Method of Madness
by Setesh the Clueless
Summary: AU Tsunade what are you thinking! Letting a known killer train Naruto and his friends. You must be out your damn mind! Starts after Tsunade is just installed as the Hokage.
1. Chapter 1

Yugao walked just behind Anko as they proceeded down a dark, dank corridor. This was the prison for those that Konoha wished to forget, and to remain forgotten. However, one of them had been remembered. And it was their job to bring the memory back into the present.

The poor bastard had now been summoned by the Hokage. It was obvious the new village leader had done so on a whim, as if wanting to satisfy an incurable itch that lingered from her past. Anko finally stopped at the designated cell.

A thick, steel door, which was the only gateway for the prisoner to the outside world, stood firmly in their way. That is, until Anko produced a key that unlocked the door. With a loud clank, the sturdy, metal gears shifted as unseen bolts receded from the frame. The hinges gave off an eerie sound as the door opened.

When the light from the hallway flooded into the cell, they could see a lone figure in a full suite of chains that shackled his wrists and ankles. The chains served to anchor the prisoner to the center of the room, with just enough length to reach the bed and toiletry. The figure that was lying there slowly arose, garbed with tattered clothing that had seen better days. He didn't even speak to them as he assumed the position that any of the prisoners were forced into when given the regular medical exam.

"Not this time, shit stain," Anko said. "Today you get to go see the Hokage." Her voice was calm and measured, and had stopped the man in his tracks. The two women couldn't discern anything, other than his long, shaggy, black hair, which kept his face from being seen. Slowly, the man seemed to contemplate the words that had been spoken.

Finally, he started back towards the bed. "No thanks. I'd much rather make sure I get my beauty sleep."

Anko grinned. Oh how she loved it when prisoners chose the hard way. In the blink of an eye, she had crossed what little distance between her and the prisoner, and had planted a fist into his stomach. This resulted in the breath in his lungs to be forcefully expelled, while simultaneously dropping him.

Yugao and Anko acted in perfect sync; one unhooking the central chain, while the other dragged the prisoner to the door. There, they both picked up an arm abd dragged the figure out. For someone with such a wiry frame, the bastard sure was heavy.

The figure had submitted after that single blow. He didn't say a word as he was literally dragged into the Hokage's office. The two threw him down in front of the Hokage's desk. For several moments he stayed there, seeming to enjoy the taste of the floor, because he had yet to actually sit up on his knees.

* * *

His day had started out like any other. But then two feisty females had to barge into his perfectly mapped out routine within his little cell. The only plus side that he saw was that this might be a dream, and he could get lucky with them on the way to the meeting. Besides, what man wouldn't let himself be dragged by a woman in nothing but a trench coat, fishnet, and a short miniskirt? Yeah, she may have been a little on the insane side, but, hey, he could live with that.

He was surprised when they actually took him to the Hokage's office. This was definitely a dream. Sarutobi would never have summoned him.

He briefly saw a figure of a woman within the chair before he was unceremoniously dumped on the floor. He could make the effort to sit up, but what good would it do him?

He heard a voice that sounded very familiar, but he couldn't quite place his finger on where he had heard it from. He was wracking his brain over it when the other bitch that had dragged him here yanked him up by his hair. Didn't she know from cat fights that pulling hair hurts?

He glanced over at the assistant in the room, and he almost felt like putting on a shit eating grin. Maybe he died and went to heaven.

That thought died quicker than a fly as his eyes landed on the Hokage. 'I'm definitely in hell,' were his thoughts just before the woman spoke.

"It's been a long time, Izuna." Her voice was calm and collected with just a hint of amusement. That irritated him just a little.

Izuna decided that he didn't exactly feel like conversing with the blond, so he found the room to be quite interesting all of a sudden. That interest quickly turned into to a very strong love for the floor when a fist from the ANBU next to him sent him to kiss the wood with his face. The union was short lived as the ANBU yanked his ass back up from the floor to face the Hokage.

"She spoke to you and you will answer." The woman next to him said.

He glanced up at her for a moment, before turning to face the Hokage. He then replied with a fake smile and an all too happy tone.

"Tsunade! What a pleasant surprise! You look good. How's that genjutsu holding up? Oh, I'm doing great. Thanks for asking. What's that? You want me to do something for you? Well hmm… let me think about it… nah. I'd sooner lick a beaver's butt than do anything for you."

Fist met flesh as Yugao sent Izuna's face to meet the floor again. She then proceeded to yank his head off the floor, bringing him to face the Hokage once more.

Izuna spit some blood from his mouth before turning his gaze onto the ANBU. "Hit me again, and you're dead." His voice was monotone, but his words showed obvious signs of irritation.

Yugao went to strike Izuna again, but her fist made contact with only air. She had only a fraction of a second to register a hand breaking her arm, and chains wrapping around her neck tightly as soon as she had been yanked into range.

The flow of air to her lungs was quickly cut off, and on instinct, she kicked back, trying to send her head into the man's face.

His voice spoke clearly as the lack of air was beginning to affect Yugao. "If anyone moves I'll snap her neck. If you ANBU even so much as take too large a breath, she dies."

Yugao was struggling and clawing at the chain around her neck. Discipline had given way to panic and the need to survive. She thrashed about as the ANBU and Hokage looked on helplessly.

"Izuna. If you still consider yourself a brother to Hashirama and Tobirama, then you will let that woman go, and at least hear what I have to say."

Two seconds after Tsunade uttered those words, Izuna threw Yugao to the floor. She was coughing and sputtering as she tried to suck in as much air as possible. Izuna stood there as if nothing had happened.

Shizune proceeded to check on the woman to make sure she was alright. The man was watching the two, and Shizune nearly shuddered due to the gaze directed at her.

Ignoring the glare Yugao sent his way, Izuna turned his attention back to Tsunade. "Speak."

Tsunade paused for a moment, before looking at the other occupants of the room. She knew she'd be arguing with the man for some time, but if she was truly going to get him to agree after what had happened, they needed to be alone.

"Leave us."

What was going to be said in the office didn't need to be heard by others. This was a family matter.

Shizune hesitated for only a moment, before the look Tsunade threw her made her pick up Yugao and help her out of the room. They were immediately followed by the ANBU stationed in the room.

Tsunade turned her attention back to Izuna. "You are aware that recently Konoha was attacked during the chunin exams. I know even you could feel it down in your cell as the battle raged on. Currently, we are in a fragile position. We are stretched thin with what ANBU, jonin, and chunin are left. We will lose even more due to the demanding regime we are pacing them at to keep up with the missions coming in. I need you to train the genin that are sitting idle to be able to handle the ANBU for as long as possible."

Izuna stared back for a moment not allowing any emotion through his mask. Finally a twinkle of amusement flashed across his cold eyes. "What do I get in return for this service?"

Tsunade laid a mask on the desk. Izuna stared at the mask. The unhealthy twitch of his right eyebrow, however, told Tsunade he was far from amused at her offer. "Exactly what on Kami's green earth makes you think I would want to pledge my allegiance to you and this village? Especially after what both of you did to me?"

"I'm offering you a second chance to try and make Hashirama's dream for this village a reality. You should be lucky that I am doing this after what you did to your fellow ninja. Destroying three sqauds like they were plastic kunai." Tsunade retorted with irritation. Things were not going as she hoped.

"I did nothing wrong. I only destroyed corpses, not lives! Hell, I was lucky to even make it out of there myself! Blame Sarutobi for sending three squads on a suicide mission. The resulting war was his responsibility to take care of, not mine!"

"Bullshit! Your actions, which deviated from the mission parameters, are what started the war! You engaged the target in Rain country, which was outside of the designated assassination zone, and sparked the Third Ninja War! Not to mention it dragged not only Suna into the conflict, but Rain as well." Tsunade argued.

"It's not my fault that they happened to be stupid enough to engage without finding out what had happened." Izuna replied.

"What happened was a debacle that is only superseded by your stupidity and pride. You didn't even leave bodies for us to return. You just leveled an area of two miles in Rain country. True, all evidence was erased, barring that of your presence, dip shit. What did you think would happen after a technique like that was released with that much chakra? When the scouts found your tracks leading straight back to Konoha what were they to think?"

"It was that, or die for a shit mission given to me by a moronic leader that didn't deserve the appraisal of the Shodaime and Nindaime!" Izuna spat.

Seeing that Tsunade couldn't argue with that, Izuna twisted the knife just a little more. "Not to mention the fact that you and the Senju clan abandoned me after the initial accusations. Oh no, it just wouldn't do to sully your hands with someone who was accused of killing comrades and starting a political nightmare! You left me to rot, just like everyone else! The only one that had showed me any signs of being by my side was Zaku, and he had to tread carefully. A lot of good that did him after the village drove him to kill himself. Simply put, you and this village can go fuck yourselves. I am not wasting my time for ungrateful shits like you and the rest of them." Izuna finished schooling his features back into place. He had made up his mind, and he wasn't changing it.

As Izuna stood up and turned to leave, Tsunade made one last offer. "I'll let you out of your cell under house arrest if you will agree to simply meet with the people I want you to train. Then you can make your decision."

Izuna stopped with his hand on the door knob. In that moment of silence, he could hear a commotion just outside the door. It seemed several people had remembered him, and were about to interrupt Tsunade's proposal.

"Are you denying access to an elder councilman, who is directly in charge of ANBU's training, from meeting with the Hokage on an urgent matter?"

Izuna's eyes narrowed as he recognized the voice of his traitorous student, Danzo. The little shit would burn in hell before this was all over. He would see to that.

Izuna turned to Tsunade. "No agreement to train them, just meet them?" He questioned.

Tsunade nodded an affirmation. They got no further into the negotiations, however, because an annoyed Danzo allowed himself into the office.

Izuna played his role as prisoner, and bowed his head submissively as Danzo passed by. It wouldn't do to kill a council member after just starting negotiations for his somewhat-release with the Hokage.

Danzo took one look at the pathetic form of his ex-teacher. He had long, black hair, and a thick beard that looked wrong on the young face of the man. While Danzo had slowly withered away physically, his teacher had remained in his prime. It irritated Danzo to know that, unless executed, or killed in action, his teacher would ultimately have the last laugh in a way.

Danzo turned his gaze on Tsunade, who had a look of annoyance due to his rude interruption. "Is there something I can help you with, Danzo?"

She questioned calmly after a moment.

"I have come to inform you that a certain prisoner, Izuna Uchiha, has escaped. Considering the danger such a man would pose to this village if he were ever to be allowed back into the world. I hope you are not going to allow him the opportunity to escape, and will take the proper actions of returning him to his cell." Danzo said, careful not to accuse the Hokage of any wrong doing.

Tsunade just smiled. "As you can see, I am dealing with the situation currently. You may leave, if that is all."

Danzo glanced at the prisoner, and then around the room. "Talking to this man, unguarded no less, is a dangerous gamble at best. Allow me to assign some ANBU guards to escort him back to his cell."

"That will be unnecessary, Danzo. I will see to it that he is returned after some more questioning." Tsunade said this firmly, leaving little room for argument.

Danzo turned to take his leave. He glanced over his shoulder, as if bestowing a vital piece of advice to the new leader.

"Don't trust the word of a traitor. Especially one that cares more about his survival than that of his village." With those parting words, he left.

Tsunade witnessed one of the few visible reactions of Izuna to Danzo's had spoken his parting words. His hands contorted into fists; hard enough to make the knuckles white. It was a rare occasion when Izuna would allow any sign of his anger to show. A grin found its way to Tsunade's face as a wicked plan began to form in her head.

A few moments of silence were held, before Tsunade decided to speak. "Judging by your reaction, I believe you have something to say about his words."

Izuna's cold stare locked with her serious gaze. "HE was the bastard that leaked the operation. HE is why the target was redirected to an area outside of the mission parameters. If I were him, and unwilling to wait for a promotion, I would have done the same thing. Besides, he was the primary witness that gave them information on the tribunal, regardless of how speculative it was. They trusted his opinion because he was my student, and could supposedly 'speculate' the reasons for my 'actions'."

Tsunade chuckled at his explanation. "Your word, as a prisoner, against the word of an elder councilman won't go far in this world. There's no one in their right mind who would ever believe you, especially after what you were convicted of."

To her surprise Izuna gave a bitter laugh. "Now you can see why I would be angry at his words."

Tsunade gaze softened as she saw a glimpse of the family member she once had within the man. He had always seen life in a bittersweet perspective, which was not surprising, considering the events he had lived through. She almost didn't want to manipulate him into this position, but it was for the good of the village. And maybe, just maybe, along the way, he could find himself again.

"I will believe you, if you will swear it upon Hashirama's and Tobirama's graves, that that man is the true traitor, and you will swear your loyalty to me, as YOUR Hokage of Konoha." Tsunade said with as much sincerity as she could convey to the lost soul before her. It hadn't been long since she had been just as lost in life as he was now.

Izuna fixed her with a calculated stare for a moment. He walked up to her as she was standing just in front of her desk. He didn't break eye contact until he finally reached over and took the mask that she had place on the desk.

He then knelt before her.

"I swear upon the graves of my brothers, Hashirama and Tobirama Senju, I will serve you so long as you never turn away from the dream that they both had for this village."

Tsunade knelt beside her grand-uncle. "I can accept those terms for your loyalty. Granduncle…" Tsunade paused trying to gather what she wanted to say. Sorry just wasn't going to cut it if she wanted the last man alive that she could call family. He was right, as the Senju had abandoned him in his time of need; she had watched by, and allowed it to happen.

"I don't need it." Izuna said before she could continue. "I don't need your thanks or your apology. You are the granddaughter of Hashirama, and there is nothing that will change that… you manipulative bitch." Tsunade was taken aback a bit by his words until, understanding hit her.

A playful smirk formed once she had remembered her granduncle as he bantered and bickered with his brothers all those years ago.

"So be it, you ungrateful, old fart."

She had just succeeded in partially winning back her granduncle's faith in the idealistic dream her grandfather had when starting this village.

* * *

Things had taken off fairly quickly after that, and Izuna now found himself in an exam room with his previous bindings off.

Tsunade had briefly explained to him that he would need to return to her for a place of residence. Izuna had had a sneaking suspicion that had been confirmed when seeing that the Senju account was nearly empty; most likely due to his grandniece's expensive habit of losing ridiculous amounts during her travels.

Now, here he sat, having to suppress the urge to fidget. He had hoped Shizune, the Hokage's assistant, who would now be his personal physician, would have simply taken his word for being in good health. That was not to be the case, however.

The young medic had been filling out some initial paperwork nearby, while an ANBU was standing guard by the door. Finally, Shizune placed the pen down and turned her attention to the waiting man. "Remove your shirt, please."

The man did as he was told, and sat there expectantly. A few hand signs later, and Shizune's hands were glowing green, ready to give the man a full body scan. When she moved to close the distance between her hands and his chest, his eyes didn't blink, but his hands wrapped around her wrist in a firm grip, thus stopping her from completing her task.

It didn't seem to dawn on the man that he had reacted, until he registered her surprised expression and looked down at what he had done. After thinking a moment, he explained his actions. "I don't know how much my grandniece has explained, but I suppose you could say I have a few trust issues. Especially with situations that leave me open to lethal force."

Shizune nodded a bit in understanding. Tsunade had indeed warned her that he might have such a reaction. Considering the fact that he hadn't let go of her wrists, he probably wasn't going to allow her to do the exam the conventional way. Not without some reassurance, at least. "I don't suppose that saying that Tsunade said you could trust me would give you any comfort, and allow me to do the scan?"

The man hesitated before loosening his grip, although he grumbled something along the lines of 'I'm perfectly healthy.' Shizune smiled at him before she returned to do the scan. She was only an inch from his skin, when his hands returned to grip her forearm. She wanted to let an annoyed sigh out, but that would be unprofessional, and the guy had at least tried.

She looked up and saw that he was in fact trying to suppress the nervousness that flashed across his eyes. Wasn't any male ninja in this village normal?

"If it'll make you feel more comfortable, you can leave your hands on my arms. That way, if you think I'm doing anything suspicious, you can end the exam with a simple push. Okay?" Shizune hoped that would appease the man so she could do the exam and get on with her day.

Izuna nodded, and she moved her hands the last inch and started the scan. She was surprised at the depth of control the man still had of his chakra. No matter where her chakra went throughout the man's body, his always pushed back, as if watching her every move. She could see his tensed body slowly begin to relax as the scan proceeded. A few minutes later, and it was over.

"There. That wasn't so bad now, was it?" Shizune asked.

Izuna remained silent and hesitantly nodded. Shizune began to mark several things on the chart. She had been surprised at how his health had changed very little from the last recorded physical he had back before his incarceration. It was as if the man hadn't aged a bit.

A frown settled over her features at that fact. Everybody aged. Even if they hid it well with a strong genjutsu like her master, they always aged.

For some reason, however, the man seemed to be an exception to that rule. She had also found an interesting chemical embedded within the cells of his body. She looked through an old chart nearby, and found a small notation about something she had never heard of before.

"Is this Virdef B4 compound the strange chemical I detected among your cells?" Shizune had voiced her question aloud before even thinking.

Izuna nodded. "It was meant as a first generation universal poison antidote. However, after the first and only prolonged human trial, it was canceled due to the unforeseen side effects."

Shizune gave the man an expectant look before asking him to elaborate. "What kind of side effects?"

"It is highly addictive, and one dose must be administered every twenty-four hours, or the cells affected by the compound begin to release a lethal byproduct due to breakdown. So long as the dose is administered periodically, or as needed, if poisons are introduced, then the enzymes that the compound coaxes the cells to produce will eat away any poisons, including the lethal byproducts." Izuna explained.

"Any other unforeseen effects?" Shizune asked curiously.

Izuna started to shake his head before thinking of something. "Well, I guess you could call it a side effect, but the natural aging process that occurs during, and through, cell division is halted. In short, it stops the body's aging process completely."

Shizune's mouth was hanging open at that tidbit. Izuna looked at the speechless medic-nin with an amused glint in his eye. Messing with her was going to be so much fun when he had to meet with Tsunade. "So, how old do you think I am?"

Shizune's mouth tried to work, but no sounds came out making, her look more like a fish than an intelligent human being. Finally, she found her voice, but it came out more like a squeak. "Twenty-five."

Izuna leaned in next to her ear, completely invading the woman's personal space. "Add a hundred, and you'll be somewhere in the right ballpark."

Shizune's brain was trying to wrap her mind around the implication of the statement. She had just been thinking that the man had looked rather attractive, and it turns out he's an old geezer by anyone's standards!

"When was it? How could you? What gave you the? Why wasn't it implemented despite the minor drawback?" Shizune could barely sort through the thousands of questions that were floating around in her head. As an avid poison user herself, if this had been developed so long ago, why hadn't it been implemented for the obvious benefits over the drawback of addiction? Morality be damned! The fact that they wouldn't have to worry about fast or slow acting poisons, and the fact that old age wouldn't send a ninja into retirement, made it the ultimate weapon!

Izuna gave a chuckle at the emotions flying across the medic's eyes. He had probably looked much the same when he had first succeeded. He had to find out the hard way, that those drawbacks had a heavy price.

His amusement broke the medic from her thoughts for a moment. She could see a knowing smile on the man's face. Apparently, it wasn't as good as it was cracked up to be.

"Maybe some time I'll explain more about it, and answer your questions. For now, though, I'd like to get the hell out of here so I can live a little. I wouldn't mind seeing the sites after being gone for nearly two decades." Izuna said, bringing the conversation to a close.

Shizune frowned slightly at the cheeky smile the man sent her way and nodded her head. For a criminal, this man wasn't too bad. A little cold and paranoid at times, but still human.

"Right, but it was an order from Tsunade." Shizune grumbled a bit as she continued to write on the chart, stating that the man was in perfect health. Especially for someone his age, which she was having trouble finding an estimate for to put down on the chart.

'Screw this. I'll have him fill out his own age.'

* * *

Swiftly, Izuna exited the hospital. His next stop was to visit his most trusted, and loved, brothers. He briefly paused when he noticed how quiet the Uchiha compound was as he passed. Either they had left, or they had wiped themselves out. Either way, he didn't care much, other than the fact he had something to rub in his brothers' faces when he talked to them.

Minutes later, he stood before two elaborate graves. He was surprised they had been buried side-by-side, considering the amount of time that separated their departures from the world.

He stared at the names of the honorable First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. He had come here, intent on having a few words with his brothers, but his mood had soured considerably as he saw the Third's grave in all its grandeur.

While these two founders' graves remained, they were not being maintained, due to the village grieving The Third's and Fourth's deaths. Izuna ran his hand along the ornate stone, his face becoming blank as he tried to sort through the torrent of emotions he felt.

"I had come here to let you know that your village is still alive, and for the brief moment, still aiming to achieve that idealistic dream of peace. I had been planning on telling you I told you so, but considering how fragile it has become, I find that I'm not quite able to do that to you two. It's been so long since the horrors of the clan wars have been remembered. They have partially forgotten the reason you founded this village. The council is nothing but bickering fools that only wish to serve their own goals."

Izuna gave an annoyed sigh as he turned his head upwards. "I still wonder if Hiruzen was truly the right one for you to show such trust in. It's true he acted for the village's best, but I feel like he has allowed too many seeds of delusion to be sewn. In your times, it was a far simpler spectrum of politics. Especially during wars. Either the clans united, and then crushed the enemy, or they were consumed by their bickering, and were ultimately destroyed in battle. The village I see before me is one that would be destroyed by the wars we brought it through. I hate it."

Izuna sat there for a little while longer, merely enjoying the air around him. Even though they had died long ago, he could still feel their lingering presence, as if they would always be there for him to remind him of what the three of them had set out to do.

"I'll come by and visit after things calm down. I just wanted to let you know I'm back, and going to be fighting to save the village you loved."

Turning his back to the monuments of the founders of the greatest ninja village ever, he uttered another sentence.

"By the way, Hashirama. Your granddaughter is now the new Hokage. God help us all."

With his goodbye said, Izuna shunshine'd to the Hokage Tower. Once there, he steeled his resolve, and started to take the first steps to make sure the village would survive the hardships to come.

* * *

Izuna was severely annoyed.

It wasn't often that he could be irritated to such a degree, but the certain pervert he was looking for had a knack for hiding. Izuna had tracked him through the Land of Fire, only to find that the pervert had returned to Konoha.

Now, Izuna was walking in his usual attire, with his personal summon perched on his shoulder. He was calmly making his way to the bathhouse, despite his annoyed state. If he had known the pervert was going to return so soon, he would have trained to clear the rust off his skills. Having the majority of his chakra sealed and contained for more than a decade had taken its toll on his natural manipulation capabilities. The response time was nothing of what it had been. On top of that, affinities he had been developing were now back to square one.

His thoughts of training were quickly wiped from his mind, as a very feminine giggle was quietly emitted from the bushes just off the fenced area for the female section of the bathhouse. He sighed; his mark was far too predictable. "Oi! Perverted Sannin! Get over here!"

The giggling stopped immediately as the Sannin's head whipped around to glare at the man. Izuna just waved happily back at Jiraiya before pointed towards the line on the fence. Jiraiya took one look at the female ninja glaring at him before sprinting off in the direction of Izuna fully intent on taking his revenge on the man after the two escaped from the women. Jiraiya was far from a coward, but the wrath of that many women and kunoichi even for a Sannin was bad for your health. Izuna waited until Jiraiya had put an arm on his shoulder to turn them so they could make their escape before using the Sannin's arm as leverage and whipped the poor pervert over his shoulder and embedded him into the ground. Izuna only had a moment to hear the whispered words of "traitor" before he leapt up into a nearby tree and watched the pummeling of the Sannin proceed. He was slightly disappointed that Tsunade wasn't among them. His irritation with Jiraiya would have been far more sated.

Once most of the women modestly covered in their quickly grabbed towels started to leave. Izuna returned to Jiraiya's side. Izuna was about to speak to Jiraiya when the other pervert in his company made himself known. "Now I'm not one for the whole sadist and masochist style of the perverted art, but damn you sure can handle a lot of women at one time!"

The last woman about to return to the female section turned and it was none other than Anko Mitarashi. Izuna merely groaned as the woman marched her way up to the two men and summon. She was clad in nothing but a two tiny towels that barely covered more than her normal attire. To his amusement the woman looked between the summon and him before voicing the new subject of her attention. "Is that a lizard?" She asked pointed to the coiled reptile on Izuna's shoulder.

"I'm a Komodo dragon, sweet stuff." Izuna's summon answered for him.

Anko poked the summon. "I thought they were supposed to be like… bigger. You sure are tiny and pathetic looking." The Komodo dragon quickly used her finger and arm as way of getting over to her. "Ryku don't you bite her and no clawing." The Komodo dragon looked up and back at Izuna as Ryku was just about to make it to her shoulder. "It was just to make a point! Besides…" The Komodo dragon studied the female for a moment before turning back. "She looks like the type who enjoys a little blood when having fun."

Anko smiled at the Komodo dragon as she picked him up and placed him on her shoulder. "Feisty, I like that! Come on, we'll talk while terrorizing some of the girls." She waved over her shoulder as Izuna voiced that she needed to be careful with him. "Yeah, yeah he'll be fine. He's with me, what's the worst that could happen?" She called out.

Izuna just shook his head. "You could end up killing him for being a pervert."

He helped Jiraiya off the ground after that quick exchange. "Come on I'm here for some information. Care for a good soak?"

Izuna started off towards the bathhouse without even waiting for Jiraiya's reply. Jiraiya of course gave a small perverted giggle before following the man into the bath house.

* * *

With a satisfied sigh Izuna allowed himself to slip into the waters. His muscles instantly relaxing without even a twitch as the occasional scream was heard from the other side of the fence as Ryku helped Anko terrorize the other females. Jiraiya slipped into the waters on the other side with a serious face marring his usually idiotic and goofy attitude. "So what's this Akatsuki I'm supposed to be targeting in the near future?" Izuna asked with little concern as to the sensitivity of the subject. It was as if he was discussing the weather.

Jiraiya frowned at the fact he was asking about sensitive material without any precautions. After an annoyed sigh escaped the man's lips he prodded further. "I hear there are a few S-classes mixed into them from the rumors."

Jiraiya finally answered. "From what I can gather they are nothing but S-class criminals that have formed up for some reason or another. Their base of operations is unknown, however, if the team that I encountered is any basis of their standard teams then they work in teams of two. Known members currently are Kisame Hoshigaki and Itachi Uchiha. I am going to look into the others, but the most defining feature was that they wear black cloaks with red clouds. Not exactly a lot to identify the members, but I believe it's at least good start."

Izuna looked up at the sky watching the clouds drift by lazily. Life in his cell had been so much easier and far less dangerous. "S-class hunting and the dismantling of a covert third party within the shinobi nations. What an enjoyable assignment I will have to train the poor bastards for. Any information on their expected time table?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "I hope to have that for you with a little more time. So far no other Jinchuriki have been approach so it would seem they are in no rush."

Suddenly a ruckus behind them drew the two men's attention to the thirty foot Komodo dragon now standing over them with a glare directed at Izuna. The screams from the woman's side were not completely ignored as the dragon moved out of their fenced area and over to stand beside Jiraiya and across from Izuna holding a disgruntled Ryku between two clawed fingers. "I believe it is your responsibility to ensure the safety and health of my son during his stay with you is that not correct Izuna-san?"

Izuna looked up at the dragon before him and gave a disarming smile. "Well, if it isn't a pleasure to see you again Rykotetsu-sama. Now let me see what is wrong with your son." Izuna held his hand out acting as if the obvious shuriken embedded near the end of Ryku's tail wasn't visible. The old dragon played along with the man's act. He handed his son over to the man waiting to see how he would remedy this problem for his son. After a quick tug of the shuriken and a green glow of the hands, a perfectly healthy son was back at Rykotetsu's side wagging his tail making sure that the elder dragon knew he was perfectly fine after the ordeal.

"I hope you can guarantee there will be no permanent damage considering," the dragon brought his tail around to show a flatten club like boned surface to be the end of the tail that quickly separated into some wicked looking bladed spikes, "the use of our tail when ripping flesh and bone during combat is always useful." The edge in his voice that threatened considerably more pain should the case be that his son's tail would not grow properly was quite apparent.

Izuna held up his arms defensively. "I fixed him good as new, but perhaps some lessons in proper etiquette towards the opposite sex at least for my species would result in your son not being turned into a wall ornament."

"Regardless of his manners his injury resulted in your lack of supervision and care. I believe an action of discipline is in order." Rykotetsu's eyes narrowed at Izuna.

Izuna gave an annoyed glare at Ryku. The little bastard was going to get his ass beat to death one day. "Hai, Hai. I'll be out in a moment." Izuna waved the dragon off dismissively. Apparently that was enough insubordination for the dragon to act. A large scaled fist connected with the place that Izuna had just been occupying. A moment later and a finger flick that connected with a hastily thrown human sized slab of stone for a defense crashed through the divide between the two baths. Izuna glanced back to see the women staring at him. He took a quick glance down to make sure. Yep, he was bare ass naked in front of the ladies that had not fled the bath when the dragon had appeared, namely the kunoichi population occupying it.

He quickly threw a henge over his body. Damn asshole elder Komodo dragons can't even wait for him to get dressed before starting a fight. A set stance later and a motion with his hands in a quick downward motion sent the front legs of the elder Komodo dragon along with its head following crashing to the ground. "I told you I'd be dressed and out in just a moment you inconsiderate asshole! If I get any shit for giving the ladies over there a free show, I'm taking it out on your ass, elder dragon or not!"

"Those are big threats to fulfill from a small fry like you." The dragon retorted using its hind legs to get some leverage. "Hurry with your clothes. I have some discipline to dispense on your arrogant ass."

Izuna didn't need to be told twice to take the opportunity to get dressed, and possibly slip out of a ruthless beating. Oh yes, he would definitely give the old, merciless bastard the slip. A moment later, Izuna was sneaking out the front when the Komodo dragon noticed him. Izuna did the most logical thing at that moment. He bolted.

Of course, the beast took out right after him.

A few moments later, a casually whistling Izuna walked out of the bathhouse. Ryku was curled up in his place on one of Izuna's shoulders. "So, what did we learn today when dealing with females of my species?"

"Don't compare their assets from a male's point of view unless you want to be turned into a wall ornament." The little dragon mumbled.

"And?" Izuna continued.

"Call for your help before trying to summon my brothers. Especially when Rykotetsu hasn't talked to you in a while." Ryku finished in defeat. He wasn't getting any of those delicious human snack foods tonight.

"Good boy." Izuna said patting the dragon on the head playfully.

"I hate you." Ryku said through clenched teeth. Nothing hurt his pride more than for Izuna to treat him like a God-damned pet!

Izuna's satisfied smirk was Ryku's only reply.

* * *

Izuna stood next to the Hokage as she assigned menial missions to genin teams that were still assigned to the village. Few were leaving, due to the fact that their teachers were being used to offset the losses during the invasion as best as possible. This meant the only ninjas still within the village were either prisoners, or the Hokage and her ANBU guard.

This left genin to pick through the rubble as best they could along with the contractors. There were still the skeleton crew of chunin needed to run guard duty and administration duties, but that was it.

Izuna's attention perked up when one of the groups that had been in the file of various genin she wanted him to train came in. This group had been a part of the new group that had been dubbed the Konoha twelve.

Not exactly anything fancy, but supposedly, it consisted of various clan heirs and ninja. He nearly blanched at the volume of the blond within the group. The fact that the orange jumpsuit he wore nearly blinded Izuna didn't help his growing headache. The "Last" Uchiha was brooding next to his teamate, with a hair style that resembled a duck's ass. He was followed closely by a girl that looked like being a ninja and surviving the career was the furthest thing from her mind. He wanted to smack Tsunade upside the head for even considering this. If the other teams' make-up consisted of this, then he was in for a long duration of training, and, cringing at the thought, team dynamics.

After receiving their mission of clearing rubble, they quickly departed. Tsunade looked over her shoulder at him. "What do you think?" The smirk on her face told him she already knew what he thought of them. She was just indulging in the satisfaction of his soon-to-be headache.

Izuna turned to Tsunade, his face ever expressionless. "I don't have the option of returning to my cell, do I?"

Tsuande gave him a cheeky smile before turning to the next team that was to be assigned a mission, Team 10. "No, you don't" Tsunade quietly said before greeting team 10.

Izuna's eyebrow slowly developed an unhealthy twitch the more team 10 spent in the room.

Tsuande, although she couldn't see the expression on his face, was enjoying the show of body language as Izuna subtly displayed his annoyance.

She didn't even ask him what he thought after them. Team 8 walked in next, and to her surprise, Izuna calmed considerably in their presence.

Despite the brash nature of Kiba, it didn't seem to bother the stoic granduncle of hers. The comments from the Sai boy amongst the other two males didn't seem to bother Izuna. He just took it all in stride.

That was the last of the teams that would receive missions. Tsunade informed him the last two members of the idle team 9 were at the training grounds if he wished to see them.

Izuna made no visible move to leave as Tsunade prepared to return to her office for the more private A and S class missions to be assigned to the returning jonin.

Izuna suddenly spoke up. "We'll do this my way. I believe a test for them to see if they can truly overcome their shortcomings is in order. Also, that mark on the Uchiha will need to be removed before I accept him. I am not about to have a liability within the unit before it even becomes operational." Izuna then made his move to leave.

"We don't know how to remove it." Tsunade commented. Izuna stopped and turned. "Then I'll find out just how much of a liability he is. I'll also be going through the recent battle reports to get a better understanding of the seal, since I heard there were a few 'Monsters' fighting. I'll want to talk to Anko when she comes back in from the village after her mission is done. Even her corpse is fine." Izuna added, just in case before leaving towards the last official trainees he had been asked to take in to train to be lethal killers.

* * *

Izuna soon found himself watching a pair of genin as they trained. A Hyuga and an average looking brunette with brown eyes who specialized in weapons. He was thankful that the pair seemed to be taking their careers seriously.

After a few minutes of watching, the Hyuga called for a stop from his partner.

"Why are you here?" he called in the direction Izuna was sitting. Izuna was mildly impressed that the Hyuga's eyes had such a range while in combat with his partner. Izuna dropped down to speak with them.

"You've been reassigned." Izuna said

The Hyuga kept his mask on very well, but the girl seemed to take a hesitant glance at her teammate, before asking the obvious question. "What do you mean by reassigned?"

"Given a new post, going to another team, to a new detail, or as what is most general, and often used, reassigned." Izuna antagonized her. She bristled at the comment, but wasn't stupid enough to act on her anger against an ANBU.

To the surprise of Izuna, the stoic Hyuga voiced a concern. "What about our injured teammate? I thought Lady Tsunade was supposed to fix him once she got back."

Izuna head swiveled towards him, making eye contact. "As you know Neji, Lady Tsunade has many duties, and is trying to deal with the obvious backlog of missions, and the other possible threats of invasion. Your friend will not receive treatment for sometime, if at all."

If Izuna didn't know any better, the emotionless eyes flared in anger at the prospect he had just elaborated on. Izuna broke eye contact and started to inspect his fingernails since he was trying to be rude when it came to the concern of their friend. He was always amused at how protective teammates could be at times when they were young and naïve.

"Naruto had promised she would at least see him to see if there was anything that could be done." Tenten piped up, trying to counter the obvious that had just been stated by the ANBU.

The ANBU waved his hand dismissively at the comment. "The brat has no idea what's going on in the world, nor does he understand the situation he and this village are in." Izuna leveled his gaze on the two genin. "Do you know how bad this situation is?"

It was a mostly rhetorical question, since they obviously would not. He wasn't surprised when they merely stayed silent knowing, he may or may not elaborate. "It is true that every ninja available is a precious resource at this current time. Genin, however, have a low priority, since they are only helping within the village to clear debris, or training to become skilled enough to receive the rank of chunin and be able to perform the bulk of the mission requests filtering into the village. There is also the fact of foreign politics to consider. If another country's village, such as Iwa, were to use this opportunity and invade us in our weakened state, then that wouldn't be good for anyone in this village, now would it? Lady Tsunade may, in time, see to your teammate, but currently, there are other, more pressing matters to attend to."

He could feel their want to argue for their friend, but they also knew that his statement was true. The village was in a highly fragile state right now, and the career of one genin paled in comparison to the future survival of the village.

Neji was the one to be comfortable enough to find his voice. "What is our new assignment?"

Izuna walked up to both of them looked from one to the other. Finally, he produced written orders that he had been given for each individual. He handed the pair their assigned scrolls.

He would, in time do the same with the other genin, and welcome into their new life as ANBU.

The two read over the orders, both sets of eyes growing larger the more they read. Neji, again, was the first to recover. Directing an even gaze on the ANBU once his composure had returned, he waited for more information.

"You are to report to the Hokage's office tomorrow morning at 0600. There, you will receive further orders, as well as meet a few of your new instructors. You will also be given your codenames and masks. You are to wear standard Konoha Ninja uniforms. In what colors, I do not care. However, I would not suggest eye-searing orange, unless you plan on blinding your enemies from a mile away."

Izuna formed a seal to perform shunshin. "Welcome to ANBU."

And with that, he disappeared.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Sorry it had been so long since an update has come. Started a new job and beta has been out of town so you could say a few things came up. I'll try to keep it to at least 1 update a month but no promises because I am still going to school while working so a lot of my time will be eaten up. However, I do plan on working on this and hopefully will eventually finish the story. Hope you all enjoy and again I'd like to thank my Beta , ShadowFaux, for doing a great job.

* * *

Hinata allowed a yawn to escape her mouth. Her squad had been out late celebrating the success of their most recent mission. Not a grand adventure of any sorts, as it was just a simple search and destroy of an infiltration unit. She thought back briefly over the years since her father had allowed her to enter ANBU. She had been merely half a step behind the praised Itachi in her accomplishments, which resulted in the clan taking precautions to insure that she did not go on a killing spree within the compound.

Although the thought had crossed her mind when it came to the elder council, she couldn't fathom ever turning completely on them, despite their drawbacks, which had caused her to ask for a few actions to be taken to allow her some independence from the clan while in ANBU.

She glanced at the pair of ninja passing her as she took a casual pace to the Hokage's office. She noticed that the pair had been her cousin's team that had recently taken a blow due to a teammate's injury and was waiting for a replacement/reassignment. She briefly considered it a coincidence that her cousin had chosen today of all days not to wear his traditional outfit when going about his duties as a ninja. He had always taken some pride in being a Hyuuga after being named her personal bodyguard and servant when she was within the compound.

She glanced at his partner trying to recall the name he had mentioned when she had last spoke with him. Tenni? Tenner? Tenten… Yeah, that had to be it. Tenten was wearing a similar uniform, and they seemed to be in a rush to their destination.

Normally, Hinata wouldn't care to pry into her cousin's business, but, seeing that he was nervous enough for it to show spoke volumes about his condition.

Hinata quickened her pace just to keep the two within eyesight, and was surprised they headed towards the same destination she was going to. The Hokage had called her early this morning informing that her leave had been cut short after the week long mission her squad had just finished.

Surely it was merely a coincidence, since two genin wouldn't be paired with an ANBU captain for any mission that Hinata could run through her head. Moving into the secretarial area, she was immediately ushered into the main office.

As she entered the office, she noticed that she was not the only ANBU there. She also noticed that the Hokage's assistant was present for the meeting as well as Yugao. She gave a small nod to her fellow Captain, since it was not every day they were able to see each other with the recent invasion. She also noticed that Tenzo the wood user was present and standing at attention next to Yugao. There was a final ANBU present that was standing next to the Hokage, both looking out the window quietly conversing over something.

After a nod from the Hokage, and a quick closing of what had been an open file in the man's hand, the ANBU turned around glanced at the three present in the room. He just gave them a calculated stare as if measuring if they were worthy of something unknown to them. After another moment, he quietly said something to the Hokage before moving to stand next to the assistant.

Tsunade turned around after Izuna gave his approval of the instructors. He had been hesitant of having such a young taijutsu specialist and the heiress of the Hyuga no less. He had an intriguing idea as to how to make sure none of the ninja near her age would question Hinata's abilities as a teacher. He had already foreseen one issue with her and was moving to solve it before it became a problem. She just hoped the prisoner didn't die from the event should Hinata agree to the staged event.

She looked at three of the best ANBU Konoha had to offer. "I am sure you are wondering why your recovery time was cut so short after a mission. It's true we have been having to maintain and unrelenting pace with our more experienced shinobi in order to keep up with the demands from our clients. Now that solves our immediate problem of man power, but that does not deal with the future issue of having enough shinobi as loses from missions mount considering we are taxing our ninja to their limits, and, in some cases, beyond. To head off this issue, I have authorized a training program for several genin to be trained by Konoha's finest in order to prepare them for the coming war." Tsunade finished, waiting for the inevitable question.

"War? How do you know there will be a war, Tsunade-sama?" Tenzo asked. "So far, no country has taken the advantage of a Hokage's absence. Sound seems to have been considerably weakened by their losses, and have made no move to continue any invasion."

"Since when does a war require an invading or attacking force to be anchored to any one nation?" The man next to the assistant questioned.

Hinata was mulling over recent events when the confrontation between several jonin and a mysterious pair of S class ninja came to mind. "Is this about the pair of S-class missing-nin that breached the walls of Konoha shortly after the attack?"

A pleased smirk flashed across the man's face at hearing that answer. "Correct. The pair are a part of a third party organization within the elemental nations that has no official ties to any village. However, their intentions are hostile, but unwilling to risk open conflict at this time. Their target was the Kyubi container, Naruto Uzumaki, for what purpose is also unknown at this time."

Hinata's eyes narrowed as the man finished. "Is there any speculation as to why they are interested in the Bijuu? I find it hard to believe that we would train a specific unit for such a task just because of a hunch."

Izuna nodded at the question. "Speculations vary. However, one common agreement throughout the speculations is that when S-class missing-nin are interested in the Bijuu, it will not end well for anyone within the elemental nations."

Hinata seemed to be satisfied with the generalized answer, since it was obvious that the man was not going to release any information on the subject other than that it was their job to help train the ANBU unit that would be doing the hunting.

"Now that you understand a bit of the situation, you probably understand why you were selected in helping to train these individuals. Their performance in the chunin exam showed they have great potential. With the proper training, they will be able to reach such levels in such a short span of time. I will be heading this unit as long as the Hokage is pleased with the progress. Her assistant, Shizune, will be our personal physician, since, currently she is the only one other than the Hokage herself that I am willing to trust with the unit's health. Several staged events will happen in order to eliminate our candidates from being known active ninja. This will help free up their time and eliminate any obligations in order to train for this known threat."

"Sasuke Uchiha, one of the candidates, will be tested and monitored for any influence from the curse mark he received. We were lucky enough to capture one of Orochimaru's personal guards during the invasion, Tayuya, who has been marked with another variation of the seal. We will deal with this liability as more information becomes available. I expect my orders to be obeyed, and you are allowed to object to them when you deem them unnecessary, but you are to obey them in order to push these trainees to the extreme. My aim is not to kill them, but to prepare them in order to survive the ordeals they will face. Any questions?" Izuna was in full commander mode.

Tsunade was impressed that his presence had not diminished one bit. When he received three nods, he walked towards the door. "We have two trainees just outside. Their teammate was severely injured during the exams, and will not be able to continue his ninja career until a particular surgery is researched in order to repair the unique damage that was sustained."

The new commander opened the door and called the two waiting genin in. Hinata face was blank as ever on the outside, but inside she was barely keeping control. She had tried so hard to take the burden of her clan to ease the pain she had caused her cousin. He had been resentful at first, and now she was going to be forced into a position where it could strain their already fragile relationship.

The two genin glanced at the other three ANBU there. Neji did not visibly respond to seeing Hinata.

Izuna began right away as he closed the door. "Welcome, I'm glad to see you two are punctual. That will be a key trait to have when the operation is underway. I'll let Hokage-sama give you your masks and codenames."

Tsunade eyed the piece of paper in front of her. Izuna had chosen a unique pair of code names for these two. She glanced at him just in time to see the mirth being wiped from his eyes as he silently enjoyed the fact that she was going to be giving the codenames he had come up with. "By decree of the Hokage you, Tenten, are to receive the codename of Panda."

The twitch that developed over Tenten's eye was slight, which made it all the more enjoyable to Izuna. Oh how he was going to enjoy tormenting these trainees all the more. It's not like he couldn't change their codenames to something more suitable if they proved to be competent. The next reaction was, by far, the best. Cracking that Hyuga mask was something he could brag about for years to come.

"By decree of the Hokage you, Neji Hyuga, are to receive the codename of Sparrow." Neji's face cracked ever so slightly as his brows knitted together, but that was forgotten as another Hyuga spoke without meaning to.

"You've got to be kidding." For a second, Hinata was caught off guard as everyone else in the room.

She visibly schooled her features before continuing the thought. "To him, that codename is a slap in the face. I will not stand for him to receive one such as that regardless if the Hokage is issuing it."

Izuna stepped before Hinata. "Are you going to be insubordinate over something as trivial as a codename?"

"If I didn't know any better, you chose it for the sole purpose of making sure he would take any shit you feel like dishing out to him. Making sure your subordinates are capable of humility and being good little soldiers while you destroy them? If that's how you operate, then you can find a new instructor." Hinata declared. It was obvious that she was angry at her cousin's treatment.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, before turning to Neji. "Neji, please remove your forehead protector."

Neji hesitated for only a split second before he obeyed.

In all it's putrid glory, the caged bird seal was displayed for the all to see. She had not realized he was a branch member within the family. Izuna witnessed the sheer rage that flashed before her eyes right before they closed. For a moment, the room held their breath wondering what was flowing through the Hokage's mind. Her eyes flashed open, and the blank look that appeared scared the shit out of all but the cocky commander.

"Neji, you may put your forehead protector back on. I want you ALL to wait outside. When the Commander calls, you may come back in."

The ANBU filed out quickly knowing full well they didn't want to caught in the wrath of the Hokage. "Shizune, I want you out, too."

Shizune nodded, and with a small bow, exited the door, and closed it behind her.

Tsunade leveled a glare upon Izuna who had moved to stand before her on the other side of the desk that separated the two.

"You knew." Tsunade stated.

Izuna gave a nod. "A bit much?" He asked with as much false innocence as he could muster.

Tsunade gripped the desk until it cracked. "A bit much? If you have to ask, then toyre even more of a moron than I thought you were. You made me look like an asshole to a Hyuga and the heiress. Thanks for adding your unique touch to making politics, both in the village and outside it, a mess. I should knock your ass clear through that door and back into that prison."

Izuna nodded, before leaning over the desk to her with an even gaze not fazed by her anger. "It may have been a bit much, but I think you understand the fact that you need to know what you are approving, especially with the councilmen you will be facing for political power as the struggle continues."

Her hand shot up and caught his collar before yanking him down to eye level. He had only a few inches on her, but hopefully it made her message clear as she delivered it through clenched teeth. "I know those assholes will be trying to undermine me. I don't need the Hyuga clan on my ass either, bastard."

His gaze softened slightly. "I won't do that to you again, Tsunade. I just needed to make sure you understood that you, and only you, will be able to make sure you stay at the top. This unit will help when it can, but our primary goal is to kill Akatsuki, not protect you."

Tsunade let him go and pinched her nose. "I know that, dumbass."

Izuna chuckled a bit seeing the headache that had formed for Tsuande. "For a manipulative bitch, you sure are sucking at seeing what can be smoothed over with just a few reassuring words."

Tsunade glared at him. "If you can fix it so easily, do it. I don't need Hinata angry at me."

Izuna shrugged, before starting to walk towards the door. He called over his shoulder, "I enjoy seeing you squirm. Consider this my one and only merciful act, since you're family."

He opened the door and called both Hyuga in. "Sit down." His command was followed as he leaned against Tsunade's desk.

"The caged bird seal, a sign of a branch family member within the Hyuga." He commented as if reciting something he had read. He folded his arms in front of him as he met the gaze of the heiress. "Do you support this practice within your family?"

Hinata glanced briefly at Neji. "No. I wish to abolish it."

Izuna nodded. "You love your cousin very much, don't you?"

"Him, and the rest of my family." Hinata answer.

"Then why don't you think we should name him Sparrow? It will disregard your family's rules, and teach him how to fly higher than any branch member has ever before."

Hinata's eyes flashed for a moment, before they went blank again. She glanced out of the corner of her eye at her cousin. He… he was smiling. Neji Hyuga, icicle of Konoha, was smiling at her.

Hinata allowed her full vision to land on Neji. He slowly nodded his approval of their argument. Hinata leveled an even gaze at the commander.

"I have no objection to his codename."

Izuna gave a disarming smile to them both. "Good. Now that that misunderstanding is settled-" He reached behind him before producing the masks that had been sitting on Tsunade's desk. "I believe you need your masks." He handed one to Neji.

"Mouse, I need you to go ahead and start their conditioning while I look in on a prisoner and various other tasks that need to happen in order for our new trainees to be brought into the folds. I want Cat and Bear to work out the details for the initiation and testing of the other trainees."

Hinata nodded at Izuna's orders.

"Good, dismissed."

* * *

There was nothing comfortable about visiting his old home, as Konoha's special cell blocks were designed to hold the most dangerous of its prisoner that it had collected through various wars and random encounters. He was here for a special case that had connections with one of Konoha's legendary missing-nin. He stopped in front of the cell door. The ANBU guard acting as his escort was a member of Konoha's interrogation division. He casually walked into the cell and surveyed the scene before him.

"What are you looking at, you little tree-hugging fuck face?!" The prisoner spat.

Izuna cocked his head to the side. That was the most colorful greeting he had ever received in his life.

"Sure, just stand there like the other dickless wonder that stands guard." The red-head continued.

Izuna just walked over to her. "Oh look. The big, bad tree-hugger coming over to have his fucking way with me like I'm some cheap whore. You know the moment yo-" Izuna's fist cut off the rest of that sentence.

"If you would shut your mouth for two seconds, you might have something other to say, rather than paint a rainbow with your words. I swear, cursing isn't going to get you anywhere." Izuna said calmly.

"Tayuya of the Sound Four, you are currently a prisoner of Konoha charged with various crimes committed during your participation in the invasion of Konoha. You have no hope of escape, and will most likely be marked for execution in the coming days. Your master, Orochimaru, would most likely kill you for your failures during the invasion. Also, he's too paranoid to allow you back because of the possibility that you were turned into a double agent in order to spy on his operations. This still ends in your death."

He paused a moment and noticed that the prisoner, Tayuya, put on a strong front by sending a withering glare at him. Even if that were true, she wouldn't admit that to him, apparently. Izuna, in a way, pitied the poor being before him. She was no longer completelyhuman because of the curse seal placed upon her, and there was little hope for her to be able to live now that fate had bestowed her with the curse of living in captivity for the remainder of her short existence.

"Eat shit and die, piss head. I am not lifting a fucking finger to help you in any way." Tayuya stated coldly.

Izuna nodded. "Good. I didn't think you would anyways. I'm just going to turn you into a human experiment, similar to the ones that your master enjoys doing to human beings so often."

Tayuya's eyes widened in fear, but only for a split second. She crushed the emotion, and tried to reason how that would be allowed in this place. Izuna enjoyed watching as the girl's calculative mind ran through the implications of his statement. He would never go as far as Orochimaru, but that didn't mean he was incapable of going near it should he be ordered to do so for a good cause.

Izuna leaned next to her ear. "We, tree hugging little piss-ants, are not without our mercy." With that said, he made the kunoichi slip into unconscious with a sedative.

* * *

Hinata and Yugao were not excited at the task handed down to them from the top brass. Sure, their new commander had a certain presence about him that scared them shitless, even though he was going to bring changes that were, as a whole, for the betterment of Konoha. It had turned their stomachs when they had walked in on him performing various experiments on the kunoichi from sound. Mostly medical and nothing horrific in nature, but his demeanor towards the "subject" was detached to say the least.

He had graphs littering the room, delving into old notes that briefly explained the concept of the curse seal, as well as some theoretical countermeasures to it.

Now, they were in route to ambush a group of trainees, who would shortly be returning from a courier mission.

"Sakura-chan! I still don't get what you see in the bastard!" The shout was loud, and made locating their targets easy. With a quick henge, the operation was started.

Yugao started by engaging their targets, codenamed Pinky and Fox, respectively. When Hinata saw them, she nearly sighed at their commander's talent with names. Hinata dropped their mark, codenamed Madman, with a quick and precise Jyuuken strike to a point near the base of the skull. The original codename for the Uchiha had apparently been Emo, but that had been hastily scribbled out. Pinky was dropped quickly, but Fox took a little bit of time, due to his tenant and own will, slightly impressing the two ANBU members. He too, however, was soon put down.

"Madman, Pinky, and Fox secured. Proceeding to rendezvous site to start phase two of the operation." The transmission was between the two captains and the commander. They then proceeded to move to their destination.

* * *

Sasuke slowly became aware of his surroundings. The first thing he noticed, was that he was bound to a chair. His hands were incapacitated, and he could feel the presence of another within the room.

"Well, I'm glad you're are finally awake." A voice spoke.

Sasuke hadn't even opened his eyes yet, and had thought he hadn't given any notion of his awareness of his surroundings away. He finally opened his eyes and locked gazes with the man.

Sasuke could just sense the hidden power those eyes held as they bore down on him. They were measuring his worth, and he couldn't look away, even as they found him inferior. This prospect infuriated him, but also scared him.

The man seemed to go through several standard procedures of an interrogation, such as attempting to find various facts about Konoha. He went on to try to make some informal attempts at gaining some personal information, and finally something broke the brick wall Sasuke had thrown up avoiding any and all attempts at gaining information.

"What are your teammates worth to you?" The question caught Sasuke completely off-guard. It seemed like such an odd question, at least, until the man elaborated.

"You are marked by Orochimaru, which means you have a potential that few will be capable of achieving. There is a price for this power, and, most of the time, it is merely leaving your comrades behind. This time, however…" The man gave a signal and Naruto and Sakura were dragged into the room. "The price is their lives. Why? Because I am offering you something that is beyond the meager power that Orochimaru can give you. I can see in your eyes you have a hunger for such power, but I have to put forth the question. Is it worth their lives?" Izuna asked as he brought his face to be eye level with Sasuke's.

Izuna watched as Sasuke's mind weighed the worth of his friends. He closed his eyes, and then opened them with a determined look. "For him, I'd walk through the fires of hell to make him pay."

Izuna gave a small nod, before cutting the ropes binding Sasuke to the chair. Naruto and Sakura looked questioningly at each other, and then back to Sasuke.

A kunai was then handed to Sasuke. He didn't even glance down at it to make sure this was what he wanted. He walked to them without hesitation. His progress was being monitored closely by his interrogator. The seal on his shoulder began to pulse, seemingly influencing his decisions. Sasuke raised the kunai, and brought it swiftly down upon Naruto's back. Sakura looked on in horror at what her teammate had just done to Naruto. This wasn't supposed to be happening! Not to them!

Sasuke allowed Naruto slump to the floor like a sack of potatos as his gaze turned to Sakura. His eyes had the sharingon flaring. However, in one swift motion, he brought the kunai to bare against his interrogator in a surprise attack. Sakura didn't even have time to register as Naruto sprung to action, dragging her out of the room as Sasuke yelled for them to run. It all happened so fast she couldn't tell what had happened.

Naruto paused briefly as a bloodcurdling scream was heard from the room. There was no doubt in both their minds that it had been Sasuke, but they didn't even have time to look back as two ANBU were closing in on them. They proceeded to make haste towards the nearest door in the hallway.

Sakura had yet to get her hands untied, and was practically being dragged by Naruto towards the door. Their attempt came to a screeching halt as a third ANBU stepped in their way.

They were surrounded, outnumbered, and obviously outmatched by these people. Few could hold their own against ANBU, and they were merely genin! Sakura didn't even get a chance to try and calculate an exit strategy as the ANBU in a mask that somewhat resembled a mouse closed the gap and made them slip into a peaceful slumber.

* * *

Sakura awoke to a bright light, black walls, and a not so sterile smelling room. She looked left and right, sighing when she saw both her teammates alive. They looked so peaceful while they slept, she thought she had just had a bad dream. That was until she spotted their interrogator in the corner. She jumped up in surprise, before the man held up his hands in a placating manner. "Easy, no one is going to hurt you." Sakura calmed down a bit, but eyed the man wearily.

"Who are you, and what THE BLOODY HELL do you want with us?!" Sakura screamed.

Any further conversation was interrupted as Shizune came through the door to the room. She glanced at Sakura, before going into medic mode.

Using a quick diagnostic jutsu, she made sure the girl was uninjured.

Sakura had not let her eyes leave the man even as he silently slipped out of the room to allow Shizune to watch over their new recruits.

"Shizune, who was that man in here?" Sakura asked cutting off the medic as she had been asking the girl a few medically related questions.

Shizune briefly glanced over her shoulder at the door before addressing Sakura. "He is your new commander since you passed the test he gave you." Shizune's eyes inadvertently flickered to Sasuke.

"Test for what?" Sakura question not quite understanding the connection.

"Due to the curse seal being placed on Sasuke, your new commander needed to make sure Sasuke wouldn't betray his friends." Shizune briefly elaborated.

"Sasuke wouldn't betray us!" Naruto interrupted the two at his usual volume of voice. In other words, loud as hell.

"Shut it, dope. Let her finish. I want to know what they know." Sasuke grumbled from his bed. Although he would never admit it, he did wonder as to how much liability his new found power would be to his teammates.

"I'm sorry, but the studies the commander has been doing on the seal is classified to you at the current time. All you need to know is that there is a small risk of harm." Shizune explained.

"Tch. Some commander. Giving us the silent treatment because we aced his test." Naruto grumbled as he crossed his arms.

Shizune smiled at Naruto's antics. "You three need a bit of rest. You will be briefed on the operation and what will be happening when you are ready."

Shizune checked on the two boys, before silently leaving.

* * *

Hinata gave her commander a calculated stare. "Are you sure you want us to be the ones to inform their sensei?"

Izuna replied with a silent nod.

Yugao gave an annoyed huff. "Not that I don't appreciate my new babysitting job, but isn't this more of your job? Could we, you know, maybe do some preliminary recon on our targets?"

Izuna gave Yugao an annoyed stare. "I'm confident Jaraiya will be just fine while gathering information on the organization. We have enough problems with gathering and making sure these rookies will get enough training before the time comes for them to be deployed. You have your orders. Dismissed." Izuna returned to the paperwork on his desk. When neither captain moved he glanced up. "What?"

The both looked at each other before Hinata started. "There have been some rumors about you performing a human experiment circulating."

Yugao continued their train of thought. "We just wanted to make sure that it was just a rumor."

Izuna just stared at them. The ANBU captains stared back at their commander. The awkward silence was starting to make the two captains uncomfortable.

Finally it seemed the two captains lost their nerve. "Forget we said anything." Hinata said before following Yugao out to their assignment.

They both missed the mischievous smirk on Izuna's face. Oh yeah, he still had skill in staring others down.

* * *

Izuna waited for the guard to open the door to the interrogation room where two prospected recruits sat tied to the chairs.

The moment he stepped through the door, his ever enjoyable patient voiced her opinions on the matter. "It's about fucking time you finally finished this torture session. I don't know how much longer I could stand listening to this emo transvestite keep going on and on about his dead lover Zabuza and how it wasn't meant to end like this!"

The other prisoner merely stayed quiet while staring at the floor below.

Izuna merely raised an eyebrow at the two. The torture hadn't even really started at least he hadn't planned on it.

He grabbed the only remaining chair in the room and slid between the two before sitting in it.

"Fine, I'll make this quick so you two can return to getting to know each other better." Izuna said smugly.

"Tayuya, you are still a prisoner of this village and are still scheduled for execution. I, however, have been delaying that outcome. The reason is I was hoping after studying your curse seal I would be able to neutralize or purge it from your body. You have two options at this moment: Be executed, or work for me."

Tayuya quietly mulled over the dilemma set before her. Izuna didn't know why it would be such a hard decision. Most people would gladly choose work over death.

Tayuya suddenly spit in her captor's face, and proceeded to give her answer.

"I'd rather die as a real kunoichi than burn alive with the rest of these tree hugging shit stains. Orochimaru will finish what he started."

Izuna gave a small sigh after taking out a rag to clean his face. Izuna promptly ignored her opening a folder containing information on the other prisoner. "Haku, I am to understand you are an acquaintance of Naruto, correct?" Haku's head immediately snapped up at the recognition of that name.

Haku actually replied to the question, something that had not happened in a long time when questioned by various people from the interrogation and intelligence division.

"Yes. He was a true friend. I heard he fought hard alongside with the Hokage in order to have the council give me an asylum and a new start on life. I owe him a great deal." Izuna could practically see the respect the young man had for Naruto.

Izuna leaned in to keep Tayuya from the conversation. "I can't tell you much, but Naruto is in danger. I am his commander right now, and I have the task of training him to stay alive for the fights to come. How would you like a chance to help your friend survive?"

Haku closed his eyes for a moment, considering the man's words. "I cannot swear loyalty to this village. Not after what they made me suffer through."

Izuna leaned back on his chair. "I never asked you to do that. I am asking you to help your friend. You won't be swearing loyalty to the village and its council. You will be swearing loyalty to me, and, indirectly, to the Hokage. I answer only to her."

Haku opened his eyes again. This time, Izuna saw something other than pain within those orbs. He saw hope. Haku bowed his head. "It would be an honor to follow you and fight alongside my friend."

Izuna gave a small smile to the boy, before giving a nod and slapping his knees with his hands as he sat up. "Alright, let's get started." He cut the ropes to the boy's restraints.

"That's it?" Tayuya asked. "No requests for reconsideration? No bribes?"

Izuna didn't even look at her as he walked to the door with Haku. "I don't have time to waste on lost causes."

Izuna proceeded out the door without another word. Haku looked at the red-head for a moment. They stared at each other for a minute. Haku didn't know why, but he could feel a connection that was eerily similar to his own with Naruto. Haku briefly considered what he was about to do.

He thought of what Naruto would do if he were in his shoes.

Haku stepped out the door to find Izuna waiting patiently for him. "If I can, may I try to see if she will work for you?"

Izuna lazily shifted his eyes to Haku. "Really? You were in that room for barely 20 minutes, and you already have a thing for that foul-mouth demon?"

Haku's eyes widened for a brief moment at the way Izuna had replied to his request.

Izuna chuckled at the expense of Haku. "Sure, I'll humor this request. You have 10 minutes. Just don't take it too hard if she still refuses. She does have her pride."

Haku blinked. The man already knew what was holding her back. Haku turned back and sat down in front of the redhead.

"The fuck you want, you girly son of a bitch?" Tayuya started off with her melodic voice.

Haku sighed. "I don't want you to die." He was blunt, but it did have the desired effect.

Tayuya's eyes went wide, and she became speechless for a moment.

Haku pressed on. "Before you tell me to go away, please, hear me out."

Tayuya was glaring at him, but nodded.

Haku took a breath. "Let me tell you a story. We both know the profession we have chosen is one filled with pain and sacrifice as we live it. We have gladly sworn our loyalty for our own reasons."

Haku paused, before continuing. "I was merely a lost child when a precious person found me. His name was Zabuza Momochi, Demon of the Mist. When he found me, I was a broken child with no family because my father killed my mother when he learned that she possessed a bloodline limit. Within the borders of Mist, bloodlines are hated. Zabuza saw something in me that no other person saw within me before. Potential. He gave me the thing I needed most: a purpose to live. I think you have had a similar experience, because I can see the pain in your eyes."

Another pause. "I know that man may not be who you want to work for, but his mission is to protect someone that is very similar to us. I think it is a worthwhile purpose, and I was hoping you would reconsider knowing that."

Tayuya allowed a brief smile to flicker across her lips. She looked up at the ceiling before replying.

"Man, you sure seem like a woman. No guy I have ever met has been so transparent in his feelings as you were just now." She half-heartedly chuckled. "I wish I had met you earlier in my life. But let me let you know that I will never follow this man. It'd be too much like following Orochimaru. I knew I shouldn't have trusted him, but he had been the only one within my life to see any worth in my what-so-ever." A tear streaked down her eye. "I'm sorry, but I can't follow another man like that."

Haku closed his eyes hearing her confession. "You're wrong." He stated firmly.

Tayuya looked at the boy. He opened his eyes, and she could see empathy and understanding; something he had not. "That man just outside in the hall is nothing like Orochimaru. The man standing outside isn't delusional. He just has a scar that runs deeper than anything we could imagine. I briefly saw it, buried deep in his soul. I see a similar scar in your eyes. Please, reconsider."

Tayuya didn't answer him for a few minutes. She just studied his face, searching to see if he was being genuine. She nodded once, before opening her mouth. "Okay. I'll do it. But, I swear, if he is anything like that snake, I'm slitting your throat first."

Haku smiled. "Deal. I'll help you kill him if that's the case." He untied the knot holding the kunoichi, and they walked out the room together, a bond already starting to form between the two extraordinary former prisoners.

"So you'll kill me if I get too much like Orochimaru." The calm and cold voice made the two stop in their tracks after they exited the room.

They both mechanically turned their heads to the man, completely expecting to be cut down for making such an agreement. Instead, they were greeted with a smirk. "Good, but you'll need Naruto's help if it ever comes to that. Follow. We have much to discuss."

After sharing a quick glance to confirm they had both heard right from the man, they swiftly fell into step behind him as he began to explain what their duties would be. The sigh of relief was not lost on the commander as he explained what was to happen.

* * *

AN: Hope you all like the development of who all will be in the ANBU unit and I will build up a relationships between characters... slowly... excruciatingly just to torture you, the readers, MUHAHAHAHA! Sorry, where was I? oh yes. Character pairings. Some will be off the wall simply because hey I like being original and doing some things that I haven't seen before or rarely see around.

Please review I do like feedback. I will update as much and as soon as my schedule does allow.

PS. Took me a little longer to update because I had some issues with the site.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Okay another big thanks to my beta for cleaning up some parts and adding a few details that really make a difference in this chapter. ShadowFaux has been an excellent beta reader and help in some of the fine tuning of this story also he has given me some great feedback when I bounce an idea or two off him. With that said I know some of you are like WTF Hinata ANBU. I want to point out that this is a slight AU. Most of what happened in cannon did happen I'm just tweaking a few parts here and there that are minor, but will bring big and small impacts. With that said please keep an open mind when I introduce something or someone and don't immediately explain how they got there. I mean figuring out how they got there is half the fun with some of these fanfics out there right? Anyways I hope you keep enjoying this.

* * *

Naruto flopped down into a bunk in the sleeping quarters that the boys were shown to after a trip to the mess hall. It was one giant barracks with bunks lining the walls with a main aisle going down the middle. The girls had there own barracks in a separate part of the building. The facility seemed to be in full operation, as ANBU were running around on various missions.

"Man! How awesome is this?! Baa-chan not only gives us our own team of special instructors to make us the best, but we also get this awesome ninja facility to use!" Naruto shouted to the others in the room.

"Troublesome..." Shikamaru muttered lazily as he tried to nap in a bunk three rows down from Naruto.

"Idiot. This is far from an awesome facility to be trained at. Right now, I wish we were back in the village." Sasuke complained from a bed across the main aisle.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked.

"She sent us to some shitty hole in the wall facility!" Sasuke sneered.

"Huh?" was Naruto's intelligent reply.

"We're in a guard area adjacent to the prison."

"Cool!"

"What the hell do you mean cool?!" Sasuke shouted. "We're practically going to be trained to be prison guards!"

Naruto scratched his head for a moment.

"But don't those guards have to be strong? I mean, most of those prisoners are dangerous. Besides, ANBU are guarding them with the Chunin, right?"

Every head in the barrack turned at that moment of intelligence from the class clown and idiot.

Sasuke acknowledged the query with a 'Hn' before lying down in his bunk.

The rest of boys then settled for sleep as and instructor with a bear mask called for lights out.

* * *

Naruto was up bright and early, since their instructors had been kind enough to let them know when they would be coming by to pick them up to start training. He figured an introductory test was in order to make sure they were qualified to teach such awesome ninja. The blond had strategically placed a bucket of blue paint he had borrowed from a supply room on top of the door. All that was left is for the test to be administered on the unsuspecting victim.

For this inaugurating event, Naruto had gone the extra mile in coordinating some feathers to add effect from Kiba. While the others had not actively taken a part in this prank/test, they were interested in the resulting outcome. Neji had been the only one to reprimand the childish actions, but made no move to hinder the preparation.

If nothing else, their instructors were prompt. At five on the dot, the door to their barracks was slammed open by an instructor.

This one was about their height, and was clearly female, as certain assets could be seen under the ANBU garb that tended to fit their member's like a glove. She wore the standard black ANBU attire, including the scultped armor plate over the chest. Like all other ANBU, her face was hidden by a mask that depicted an animal, particularly a mouse. However, instead of the traditional black ninja sandals, she wore black combat boots.

Due to the violent intrusion, the bucket started its descent on the unsuspecting victim. Every eye in the room watched as the bucket fell from its perch onto the unsuspecting trainer.

The anticipation was almost palpable as they painstakingly watched the bucket's descent. Just inches before it made contact, a flash of chakra was briefly seen before their vision was miraculously turned blue. It took a moment to register what was now a part of their new fashion. Paint that was the color of the mid-afternoon sky covered the boys with their new ANBU gear as the instructor cocked her head to the side.

"I was told you guys would be down and blue, having found out about this facility's function, but I didn't think it was meant in a literal sense." Her thoughts were voiced in an overly sweet and innocent tone that grated on Kiba's nerves. He'd be damned if he let her get away with ruining a perfectly good prank!

He tossed the bag of feathers he was holding, and once again, a burst of blue chakra was witnessed before feathers were sent into his face.

Once again, she cocked her head to the side. "I can't be sure, but I thought pillow fights were more of a girl thing. Wait. Does that mean I win?!" She suddenly asked in a cheery tone. Giddily, she clapped her hands together while jumping up and down.

The boys could only dumbly nod as the sheer absurdity of their situation. Blinking, they turned their gaze from the instructor to the idiot who had instigated the situation. "Naruto!" Several of them yelled, glaring at the boy.

Instantly, the instructor switched from an innocent, if slightly weird, girl, to a demon from the pits of hell!

"Alright! That's enough! If you have enough time to yell at your comrades, then you don't need any time to change! Let's go everyone! Out to the field! Move it, move it, move it!!!" Yanking them off the ground, she practically hurled them into the hall with barely dried paint and feathers. Some of them tried to protest to their state of dress while being moved.

"You think you're going to get time on the battlefield to make sure you look prim and pristine? We're training you to be fighters! Not how to look good for a prom! NOW MOVE!"

Naruto was scrambling to join his comrades before a slender, but firm, hand landed on his shoulder. "Where do you think you're going?"

Naruto nervously turned to smile over his shoulder, and came face to mask with their oh so sweet instructor they had just met. "To do as you said, ma'am."

"I don't think so, Fox. Since this was your idea, you who gets to clean up this mess." She motioned with her free hand to the paint that was on the walls and beds with white feathers as more decor.

"You have 2 hours to clean up all the bunks before ANBU getting off shift come in to sleep. If you don't, well, I don't know WHAT I'll do to you. Are we clear?"

Naruto nodded repeatedly to show that he understood. "2 hours? No problem!" Right as he brought his fingers and started to mold the required chakra for his favorite jutsu, the instructor produced a toothbrush.

"With this."

Naruto stared at the object for a moment, before he blinked rapidly to make sure he was seeing a toothbrush. "Huh?" Was his intelligent response.

Mouse nodded. "It's not punishment if effort isn't involved." Naruto's head dropped.

"Fine...I'll get right to it."

Nodding, Mouse hopped onto one of the few clean beds.

"Don't you have to you know… go teach them stuff?" The blond queried as he scrubbed at the floor with the utensil usually used for hygiene.

"The other instructors have it covered. What makes you think I can trust you to complete this task? Besides, I don't want to have to explain why a fresh group of trainees got gutted by a seasoned ANBU trainer."

"Why isn't Kiba being punished with me? He used the feathers." Naruto grumbled as he began alongside the dozen clones he had made in order to start cleaning the paint from the floor and walls with only a toothbrush and buckets of water to wash the brush. Another group of clones had taken to clearing and remaking the bunks.

"Because, Fox, it was your idea. Wolf was merely following orders. In our line of work, when you lead the mission, it's your responsibility, whether it be success or failure." Mouse explained.

Naruto looked up at her for a moment before asking a question. "Ki- err, Wolf doesn't really listen to anything I say, except when it's an idea to pull a prank. Isn't it their responsibility if they choose to follow?"

Even though Naruto couldn't see it, Hinata smiled behind her mask. There was the relationship between the leader and the ones who chose to follow.

"That's true. Why do you think it is he listens to your ideas when it involves pranks, but doesn't when it comes to other issues?"

Naruto was thinking hard as he scrubbed. He had an idea, but couldn't form it into words. Finally, the instructor spoke.

"Orders only go so far. It's the respect and the belief that people have behind the one giving the orders that truly ensures they are followed." Mouse leaned forward a bit. "The fact that Wolf follows your orders when they come to pranks revolves around your former effectiveness and reputation as class clown. On the flip-side, that's why he doesn't trust your judgment when it comes to other matters. If you truly want your dream of being Hokage one day, you not only need to earn the respect of your classmates, but that of your instructors."

Mouse got up and walked towards window and was facing away from Naruto. "Fox, you started earning mine when ANBU used to watch over you, even though I got that job only a couple of times. Your actions when we captured you during that test boosted it up a couple of notches. I see great things coming from both you, and Hawk. Our commander has seen them. That's the only reason why you're here."

Mouse turned her head towards Naruto, who had his mouth hanging open. "Take this training seriously, and you will reach your goal of becoming Hokage before you even know it." Mouse walked over to Naruto leaned down and used her finger to snap his jaw shut.

"You shouldn't act so surprised when someone tells you it's possible that they believe you can achieve what you dream. Just promise me, no more pranks." Mouse patted Naruto shoulder as she started towards the door.

"You have ten minutes to make it to the field before I start popping clones. You have to catch up to the others." Mouse commanded. Whether Naruto understood the double meaning to her last statement or not, was unknown to Hinata.

Naruto briefly smiled at her, before snapping his mask into place and bolting out the door, intent on making it to the training ground as soon as possible. Mouse only got to pop a few clones before he made it to the group. He almost stumbled when the memories of a particular clone came back to him when it was killed in a more...intimate manner.

* * *

Once again, Naruto slipped in the mud. Even after five weeks of not using chakra in the physical exercise made it extremely difficult during the occasional storm. The only thing that helped him not take in a mouthful of the delicious substance was the mask secured to his face.

By now, code names were used to identify each other. The instructors had been kind enough to briefly share their identities.

Bear was an average sized man with brown eyes, brown hair and the kind of face that was pleasant one moment, and scary-as-fuck the next. His background was a bit shady, but he went by the name Tenzo, and could use techniques involving wood. When this was mentioned, Kiba remarked that he must get a 'shit-load of gay jokes' hurled at him. Needless to say, an extra four hours of training was added to Kiba's plate for a week.

Cat turned out to be a woman in her mid-twenties who had an ardent fervor for swords. She had gray eyes, purple hair, and a stand-offish personality that practically oozed apathy. Apparently, her boyfriend had been killed during the sound-sand invasion, and she was still grieving. Due to her specialty in weapons, TenTen had immediately taken a liking to her.

Most surprising, however, was Mouse. Behind her mask, she was a (mostly) ruthless figure slightly taller than Naruto. With her mask off, however, she was a girl slightly younger than the fox boy that looked as if she couldn't bring herself to hurt a fly. Pale lavender eyes identified her as a Hyuga, and ink-blue shoulder-length hair with two sideburns that hung to her collar bone further imposed a sense of royalty. Despite being two months Naruto's junior, she had a figure that most women would kill a kage for. It was later brought to attention via Neji that she was the heiress to her clan.

These three were to be their instructors in the basics until the group was turned over to other members for specialized training. They were merciless and made them train physically, rain or shine.

Hell he'd bet they would even make them do their training if a battlefield suddenly erupted on the training ground adjacent to their training facility.

"Fox! Hurry your ass up! You're always going to be second best if you keep laying there." Hawk taunted as he blew by his friend.

Naruto picked himself up with a few more pounds of mud on his uniform. "Shut it, bastard! I'll win if it kills me!"

"Enough talking, maggots, or I'm going to double the regular routine!" Mouse shouted out. Most of the recruits groaned, but to Naruto, that angelic voice was music to his ears.

"Ai-aye, Captain!" Naruto shouted, putting extra strength into his stride.

Mouse allowed the corners of her mouth quirked up as she eyed the trainee that had answered her call to greatness with a fervor that dwarfed anything she had seen. The boy sure had heart and had learned quickly despite being so far behind in the basics.

Her small smile quickly formed into a frown as her eyes went across the line of trainees and landed on a pair of kunoichi bringing up the rear. They were practically leaning against each other.

She idly watched as the pink-haired one finally tumbled into the mud. The blond she was leaning on let out a cry of surprise. Quickly, she stifled it before the instructors could hear. The two were falling behind; too far behind to be of any use to this unit. Even the Commander had taken notice. He was pressuring the three instructors to find their calling.

Just surviving the ANBU basics was not going to cut it, especially if they were going to take on the Akatsuki. Hell, even the Akimichi and Nara had gotten the message after the first week, and were frantically scrambling to iron out their deficiencies. It was either train, or die trying; the days of being pampered were long gone.

Hinata started towards the pair as she watched Owl start to hobble while being supported by Salamander. "Owl, Salamander, freeze!"

The two trainees stopped dead in their tracks. The others glanced over their shoulders before they continued on when the other two instructors yelled at them.

Hinata glanced at Salamander and noticed that, while breathing heavily, she could still go on for a few more paces.

"Salamander, set Owl down and keep going." She commanded before turning her attention to the injured trainee.

Salamander did as ordered, but she whispered a good luck before attempting to catch up to the main group.

The instructor and trainee just sat there in the rain for a moment , with Owl's eyes trailed after her friend and the main group.

Hinata knelt down and examined the right ankle. Activating her Byakugan, she saw that is was fractured. Without a word, she carefully lifted the trainee up and started towards the facility that had been their home for the past five weeks.

Hinata actually looked back on the opening days of the training program and had to suppress the chuckle that tried to form. The Commander had led the introductions to the new recruits, and sounded almost welcoming. That illusion had been ruthlessly crushed the next day when the instructors threw the recruits headlong into their new training routine; a crash course in the basics of ANBU.

They would refine their instincts later through live exercises that were already being planned out. They just needed the entire group at a certain level before starting them on the real training. It just wouldn't do to lose any on training missions or live exercises. The Commander wouldn't survive the political backlash from the council if that were to happen.

Mouse's eyes widened slightly as she noticed the Commander standing at his office window, watching her bring in the trainee in once again. He seemed...angry. She wasn't sure if his agitated mood was from the recent messages from the Hokage, or from the handful of trainees lagging behind in various areas. The time-line they were working with was damn near impossible. To try and take a group of genin from greenhorns to an elite unit that could take on pairs of unknown S-class ninja in three years was insane.

Stifling her thoughts for the time being, Mouse met Shizune at the infirmary. She had apparently been contacted before hand, and was presumably waiting on the two.

"Broken ankle." were the words out of Hinata's mouth as she laid Owl on the operating table. Shizune nodded before starting her own examination. She was careful to roll up the leg and clean the area up for a better view.

When Salamander slipped into the room, Hinata wasn't surprised in the least.

* * *

Owl groaned in frustration as she lay down. "Why don't they just kick me out of this program? I'm obviously not cut out to be here."

"You do know that if they did that, it'd mean that I'm stronger." Salamander said as she flopped herself into an adjacent bed. It didn't matter that she doused mud all over the covers via her uniform.

Shizune quickly came over. "The usual?" she asked.

Salamander gave a nod. "I hate these stupid I.V.'s." Sakura complained as the needle was inserted into her arm.

"Well, maybe if you didn't allow yourself to become so dehydrated when running, maybe you could go one time without having to come in for one." Shizune chastised.

"Well, if I wasn't always dragging a big fat pig on my back all the time, I might be able to remember to keep hydrated. Not to mention all this gear they have on us!" Salamander sneered. They both knew they were falling behind their friends.

Owl turned her head away. "Sorry." She mumbled.

She felt a hand land on her forearm and give a comforting squeeze. Salamander had leaned off her bed to reach. "Hey, I didn't say I minded doing it for a friend. I know you would do the same for me, since you helped me just as much."

Owl nodded, before sighing. "A lot of help that has done for either of us."

A silence settled over the two after the statement was made, and Salamander went to laying down. Shizune tried to give them some encouragement, but the two trainees seemed to be lost in their own thoughts.

She simply went back to preparing some of the experimental scrolls the commander had requested for. Looking at her two patients, Shizune was surprised to see Ino watching her.

"Interested in medicine, Salamander?" the medic asked. She was probably the only one here that wasn't going by a codename, and wasn't going to officially stay a part of this unit once it became active. An alternate had already been found that could take her place. She had to admit the boy had a talent for healing; polite to. He would make a great medic, both on and off the battlefield. It wouldn't hurt to have more than one capable medic within the unit. Actually, these two they had some of the best control of all the trainees.

Shizune allowed these thoughts to wander as she prepared the rest of the materials.

* * *

Naruto, Shikamaru, and Chouji were walking to check up on their injured friends.

They had been worried when Sakura had rejoined them for the rest of her training once she had been cleared to return by Shizune.

Sakura had seemed distracted, and confessed that she was worried about Ino when Naruto had pressed the issue.

To be perfectly honest, Naruto wasn't really all that close to the blond; mainly because there wasn't much reason for them to associate. Sure, she was a friend of Shikamaru and Chouji, but that was the only real connection Naruto had to her. That, and she was a former classmate that was being trained for the same ANBU unit.

Shikamaru stopped them just as they were about to round the corner into the infirmary. Naruto opened his mouth to ask what was up, but immediately clammed up when Shikamaru used the hand sign for silence. Using another hand sign, Naruto asked the question on all their minds: 'What's up?'

Making a head motion, Shikamaru told them to quietly look for themselves.

The three glanced around the doorway to find that Ino was talking to Hinata. Neither had their masks on.

"Ino. I came to talk to you about your performance these past few weeks." Hinata started, not quite sure why she had come to the girl.

Ino sighed. "I know I'm screwing up. I pro-…" Hinata cut her off by raising her hand to silence the girl.

"I didn't come here to hear your excuses. I came here to explain something to you. I came here to give you a...perspective." Hinata finally remembered what she had come here to do.

"I can see it in your body language. You are unsure of yourself, and because of that, you are starting to hesitate. That is why you see the gap widening from your peers." Hinata explained.

Ino started to look downcast as her problem was bluntly laid in front of her. Hinata continued on before Ino could wallow too much in her problems. "Did you know I was not always so disciplined and self assured?" Hinata asked.

Ino's attention was drawn to the other girl, giving her a questioning look. The Hyuga weren't exactly known for their self-esteem issues.

A gentle smile from Hinata spoke volumes to those that could see its subtle appearance.

"When I was younger," Hinata began, "I was not adept with my clan's style. I didn't wish to hurt my family members that I sparred against. Even though I tried to tell myself that they were far more skilled, and that I couldn't hurt them, I always held back. I hesitated, and that infuriated my father, the clan head. He drove me deeper into a shell that I was slowly constructed for myself after my mother died. He always chastised my mistakes, and had never given praise to my fighting style. That is, until one spar."

**_XXXXXXX Flashback XXXXXXXX  
_**

_A seven year old Hinata was sparring against her father. They were in the Main House's dojo, and the clan head was becoming increasingly annoyed with the pathetic attempts with which his daughter was trying to strike him with. He weaved around another strike, and the only thing she successfully came into contact with was what little of his traditional robes that fluttered by when he twisted around her hit._

_His eyes were boring into her. Those calculating, emotionless, white eyes of her father that were always measuring her worth; and finding her continually lacking_

_As she sparred him during their daily sessions, the look of disappointment in his eyes never left. Finally, he voiced his opinion. _

"_You are weak. You lack the drive to be what a clan head needs to be. You will never be anything but a failure, doomed to become a servant in the branch family."_

_Hinata knew why he had grown so cold to her. She had been too weak when she was three, and it had cost him his brother because of the kidnapping attempt by lightening country. She also was a spitting image of her mother, which made him keep his distance in order to not be reminded of his departed wife. She knew her father once held a warm side, but it had been driven behind a wall of coldness in order to do his duty as clan head. In her father's eyes, that was all he had left._

_Finally ,seven year old Hinata snapped. It did not matter that it was her father. The way he treated her was below the dirt he walked on. At one time, she had been compared to Itachi. She had been well on her way to equaling, if not surpassing, his progress, when their mother had perished. The entirety of her world had crumbled in an instant, and was spiraling in the gutter. Enraged, Hinata renewed her assault upon her sire._

_She could tell her eyes were strengthening, as his chakra points became clear and defined. Her body began to move on its own in her fury. Her father's face showed surprise, before being wiped clean as he began to move to counter her strikes. She closed off a portion of his torso and left arm, before twisting to render the other useless. Suddenly, she felt her entire body surge with pain and go numb._

_Hinata uselessly tried to move, but her body would no longer follow her commands. She had studied the brief theory of this technique before she was considered unworthy. It was the Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms that was the prized offensive technique of her clan. In controlled hands, it could be deadly. In the right hands, it could be used to merely incapacitate an opponent. _

_Her father's head came into a view, looking over her fallen form._

"_You must learn to control yourself, or you will forever be a failure. Perhaps there is hope. As you will not be able to move for the next few hours, I will have an attendant take you to your room so you may rest. I expect better tomorrow."_

_It wasn't exactly praise, but it was better than being called useless. She was not the best at reading people, but she could have sworn the undertone in his voice was of pride._

_**XXXXXXXXX End flashback XXXXXXXXX  
**_

"From that point on, I had what I needed from him. The knowledge of self-worth, and the ability to mold the Gentle Fist into my own style. I became another clan prodigy, second only to Itachi to this day. He was prized for his superb use of genjutsu while mine is more towards taijutsu. Do you know what I'm trying to convey to you, Ino?"

Ino mulled over the tale a bit before speaking.

"So...you're saying I should go beat some sense into our new commander about his insane physical training schedule?" Ino asked.

Hinata couldn't hold back a bark of laughter at the mad idea. Only fools and the Hokage would even think about assaulting the Commander. The smile on Ino's face was all that Hinata needed to know that she was alright.

Naruto and his companions were just about to take their leave, when a presence behind them made herself known.

"Why the fuck are you dick-less shit stains huddled around the door like a pack of eavesdropping, tree-hugging mutts?" she yelled.

The reaction was satisfactory, as the three boys jumped out from behind their hiding spot, wide-eyed at the kunoichi's ability. She hovered over them as they sank back, allowing her small height advantage seem far greater than it actually was.

Hinata sighed, knowing the three boys had been there all along. The two selected bodyguards of the Commander were still being trained, but had some unique characteristics.

"Is there something you came here for, Rodent?" Hinata kept her voice monotone, but she enjoyed the growl that was emitted by the other ANBU.

"The name is Rat, and I did come here for something more than just terrifying these fucktards." Tayuya said, clearly irritated.

Hinata glanced at the three boys, and motioned for them to leave.

"Duly noted. However, I will not act on it if you continue to act like a neophyte." The three boys promptly left as Rat became distracted, not wanting to spend any more time within the insane ANBU's presence.

"Neophyte? Don't you dare group me with these weaklings, or I'll force feed those words right down that pretty little princess throat of yours." Tayuya growled.

Hinata just nodded. "I'll keep that in mind for future reference. Now, what did you come here for?"

Rat nodded towards Ino. "Commander wants to see the stupid fucking fan girl that can't seem to do anything right other than literally break her damn leg. He also wants to see Salamander, who's passed out in her barracks. If you want to, you can fetch the pansy, since you seem to be warming up so well to the screw-ups. Have them there by 21:00 hours."

Hinata glanced over at Ino, and brought her some crutches.

"Here's hoping that it's only a stern scolding, and not a boot out the front door." Hinata said with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

Ino nodded towards the captain. "I'll be sure to get Sakura. At least the two of us will do it together." Hinata quietly watched as Ino hobbled towards the sleeping quarters of the facility.

She then quickly made her way towards the Commander with the intent of making a stand for the members of their unit.

* * *

"Enter." was the monosyllable command of her superior after she knocked on his door.

He was busy studying medical records, and if Hinata wasn't mistaken, the last name was Rock. The commander put away the primary record into the bottom left drawer of his generic desk. The facility, while state of the art, was far from displaying any taste towards fashions of the time. It was built for functionality, and the only semblances of luxury were the windows and the occasional balcony that dotted the structure. Hinata had been in this room a few times, and noted his bodyguards were always present, concealing themselves to the point the only way she knew they were there was if her Byakugan was active.

She always did a preliminary scan, before entering any room. It had become a necessary habit for survival that also conserved her chakra as much as possible. If she took more time to admire the room, she would find it devoid of any other signs of being lived in, except for the two desks that had several scrolls strewn about them, probably for the bodyguards to continue their studies in their arts. The room was almost as none-descriptive as any other office within the facility. This was to make it that much more difficult to locate the primary office.

Izuna looked at one of the most effective, and, by far, the most rebellious of his captains. "What may I do for you today Mouse?" He brought his hands together in front of his face as he leveled Hinata with a calculated stare.

Hinata had thought greatly on how she was going to breach the subject without being blunt, but had come up with little to start with.

Seeing her contemplative state, Izuna decided have a bit of compassion and lead the talk. He stood and went towards the sliding doors that lead to the balcony outside and one of the lower rooftops of the facility. The doors were situated so that they created a small alley way that would funnel any enemy attempting to use as a way in.

He slid the doors open. "Let's get some fresh air." He walked out onto the balcony, and pretended to admire the evening sky. The sun was well behind them, as the balcony faced towards the east. Stars were just starting to become visible in the growing darkness.

Hinata joined the man out on the balcony, and he turned towards her, leaning back against the railing. He waited until she had positioned herself beside him, before he breached the subject he suspected she had come to see him about.

"You have been becoming closer to Salamander and Owl over the last week." He said it so casually, Hinata wondered if she was really that transparent in her intentions.

After coming to the conclusion she was, she sighed before speaking. "I guess you could say that. Commander, I don't know why you called them up here, but just know they do have a great deal of potential. They just…aren't..." She wasn't quite sure how to make herself sound as if she wasn't making excuses.

"Used to actually training, instead of ditzing around?"

Hinata gave the man an annoyed glare. "Yeah, I don't know what it is about those two, but I can kind of understand where they are coming from; just realizing how far behind they are."

Izuna nodded at her explanation of the connection they shared. "I do believe I read briefly you were not always the flawless prodigy you are now. You know I never did care much for the traditions of a clan." Izuna finished in a voice that sounded like he knew exactly how her life had been like.

"You almost sound like you know how strict a clan can become when they are imbedded in their traditions." Hinata jested. She turned towards her commander when he didn't respond.

He seemed to be staring off at nothing in the distance. He was remembering something, that much she could tell. He didn't even move as a lone tear ran down his cheek. "Sir...are you...crying?"

Izuna was quickly brought back to reality at the shocked voice of Hinata. "Yes, I'm crying from the torture of seeing such sad excuses of ANBU being trained." was the intelligent reply he gave. He had almost not been able to think of a witty comment to redirect the conversation away from what he had really been thinking about.

After a brief moment of silence, Izuna cleared his throat. "Rest assured, Mouse. They will leave here alive, and only _slightly_ traumatized."

Hinata nodded her head, and then looked over her shoulder. "It sounds like they are finally here. I guess now would be as good as time as any as to start my evening training."

Izuna nodded. "You are dismissed." As soon as the words left his mouth, Hinata vaulted over the railing and straight down the thirty foot drop to the soggy ground below. He watched as the ANBU Captain made a beeline for a slightly drier spot within the training grounds that had been previously occupied by their trainees.

An epiphany hit Izuna at that moment. He signed for Rabbit to get the door, while slipping on his mask in order to keep his identity hidden from the rookies. He would have too much fun screwing with them when they were finally ordered back to the village, and if they didn't know what he looked like, well, why pass up such potentially entertaining down time?

Rabbit led the two trainees out to the balcony where Izuna watched the brief blue streams of chakra as Hinata went through the various forms of her modified gentle fist.

"Sir, you asked to see us?" Salamander asked tentatively, as if afraid to bring his wrath upon her.

Izuna glanced over his shoulder, and motioned the two to join him. As the two walked up to his right he pointed towards Hinata in the distance.

"I'd like you to watch her for a few minutes." Izuna instructed, pointing out the blue streaks.

After they had admired the beauty of the dance-like moves that Hinata was performing as she trained.

"She's not the only Captain training at this moment." Izuna said. "Cat and Bear are doing light sparring in one of the indoor rooms. I didn't bring you here to watch Mouse train all night, but I do hope you understand the message I'm trying to convey." He glanced at the two trainees beside him, and noticed their heads drop.

"We are falling behind our comrades." Ino put it bluntly.

Izuna nodded. "The injury to your ankle isn't going to help you catch up, either."

Ino's eyes widened slightly at the implication. "I'll do twice the training once I'm back on my feet, sir!"

Izuna chuckled at the ridiculous promise. His laugh sent the kunoichi into silence.

"Don't say something you are unable to deliver. You can't even make it completely through one training routine without collapsing. Hell, Deer and Ox even struggle with it, and Sai is only slightly better than those two. Let us clear away any delusions that make you think that a pair of fan girls like you will be able to close the gaps that have already started forming in such a short amount of time."

Izuna turned his full attention on the two kunoichi. "I just want to make sure you two understand exactly what your position is. Shizune has requested you two to begin being trained in the basics of medical training to diversify your support to this unit." Izuna looked directly at Ino. Although his face was hidden by his mask, he could easily tell by her fidgeting that she knew he was looking right at her. "And you Owl will also begin your training in the art of interrogation. Do you have any objections to this extra training?"

"No sir!" the trainees replied in unison.

"Good. Don't fuck up this chance to close the gap. Your instructors will know your new schedules. Dismissed." Izuna turned back to watch the night sky as the two made for a hasty exit.

Rabbit came up beside the leader. "That was… kind of you, Dragon-sama."

Izuna snorted. "Like I'd let those two slack off because they can't keep up with the physical training. Damn fangirls need to stop trying to diet, and actually build the muscle they need to survive. If they have half a brain, they should prove to be able to compensate with this extra training."

"Still, it was a small mercy to them. It may even save them later on down the line." Rabbit persisted. Izuna only nodded.

"Makes you feel so insignificant, doesn't it?" Izuna said a bit after his star gazing.

Rabbit looked at the Commander. "Sir?"

Izuna nodded towards the sky. "The stars. There are so many of them. If one were to disappear, you really wouldn't notice. I think it's the perfect perspective of life. If one individual is snuffed out, no one will notice. But if a whole group were to go…" Izuna left his thought unfinished.

Rabbit nodded, before making an amendment to his commander's statement. "No one will notice, so long as the star is not a part of a constellation, a marker, or goes out in a blaze of glory."

"I swear. Sometimes I feel like I'm surrounded by pussies rather than cold blooded killers. Especially with Bunny there." Rat spoke.

Izuna allowed the corners of his mouth to turn up. Nothing was ever boring with his new pair of bodyguards.

"I really wish you would call me by my proper codename." Haku said, voice edged with frost.

"Ah, but Bunny suites you so well!" Rat argued.

Izuna just shook his head at the antics of the two.

* * *

Everyone knew something was wrong the moment an explosion rocked the grounds of the adjacent facility. The origin was quickly found to be the prison down below. It took only two minutes before the first squads of ANBU were seen leaving from the medical facility's main entrance.

Bear came forward and shouted for everyone's attention. "Everyone is to proceed back to the medical facility. We are to help with any injured that come from the prison. We'll break you down into groups in which we will be assigning shortly."

Suddenly the instructors went rigid. "Change of orders. We are to provide containment. Fox, Sparrow, Owl. You will go with Cat and cover the northern breach.

"Salamander, Panda, Hawk. You will follow Mouse to the southern breach. Support the guard as needed."

"Deer, Wolf, Ox. You're with me. We are going to assist the Commander."

"Goat, Raven. You will be with the commander's guards. Rat and Rabbit, follow their orders. Let's move!"

The ANBU trainees started moving along with the few straggling ANBU units that had just gotten underway. Soon enough, they were nearing the prison compound. The high walls made it hard to see until they made their way through the breach. Almost instantly, they were thrust into a battlefield that was one of the five separated courtyards surrounding the primary building in the dead center.

As Naruto glanced at the building he could see prisoners cheering and beating on the bars that held them in their cells. Several of the ANBU behind Naruto brushed passed him along with his Captain. She glanced at him and gave a single order. "Move out!"

Naruto flashed his favorite hand sign, creating a couple dozen clones ordered to help the ANBU currently engaged.

His efforts quickly turned the tide, but all fighting stopped as an explosion of chakra came from one of the adjacent courtyards, and, soon after, the wall to their right crumbled as the body of an ANBU smashed through it. The masked warrior tumbled once, before he managed to right himself and stand up.

In that split second, everyone could see his mask was already gone, probably smashed to pieces by whatever sent him through that wall.

His face gave no hints to his condition as his black eyes tracked his target speeding towards him. His right arm was hanging limply from his side, covered in so much blood, his arm-guard was dyed red from it. What was left of it, anyway. The thing look like it had been hit with a sludge hammer a few dozen times before being hit by a crane.

An object that could be compared to a speeding bullet flew from the opening the in wall towards the ANBU. The ground was torn up in a manner similar manner to when Lee opened his gates.

In a rare moment of realization, Naruto knew that the man was fighting a true master of the strong fist style. Naruto watched the bullet, which turned out to be a beast of a man that easily dwarfed the ANBU.

True to the form, the man horizontally kicked the ANBU into the air, launched himself after the ninja, wrapped him up with a couple of bandages, and at the peak of the ascent, began rotating downwards as their descent began. It was over in just a second, as the man smashed the ANBU head first in the unforgiving ground.

The separation the man used just before the ANBU hit the ground made him land a couple feet from the corpse. That was a mistake, because not landing further away cost the fight as the ANBU exploded.

Naruto saw the taijutsu master thrown nearly forty feet, before rolling to a stop. Over the roar of the fire of the burning guard towers, he could hear the man's screams of pain. Pitifully, the prisoner tried to stand up, but his severed legs effectively prevented that.

"I got to get up… g't t' up." Naruto briefly heard of a voice that reminded him of a panicked child. The shock of his severed limbs and explosion were taking their toll on the man as he started to crawl on his knees and elbows along the grass. That is, until one of his arms was yanked under the grass, and his cries were silenced as a pool of blood started to form near the man's head. His throat had been slit.

Naruto just stared as the ANBU that had nearly been beaten to death emerged from the ground, one arm still limp, and began to engage the enemies around him in hand to hand combat. In that back of his mind, Naruto knew he should be fighting just like the other ANBU, but he couldn't pull his eyes away from the pair of red eyes with three tomoe. Naruto wasn't brought out his own little world until he was yanked back quickly by Cat as she saw he was about to be decapitated by a prisoner as he simply stared after the Commander.

"Wake up Fox, before you become just another body bag! This is no time to stand around with your head up your ass!" Cat roared at Naruto, cutting down the prisoner who had tried to end his life. Naruto quickly remembered where he was and began to engage the loose prisoners, subduing them or killing them. With his limitless clones at his disposal, he was a force to be reckoned with.

When the fighting slowed, Bear's squad finally came through the opening making their way towards the commander. Cat also ordered them to make their way as he cut down prisoners near the doorway leading into the prison. The massive double doors had been latched shut, and it was highly unlikely they were going to be able to break through.

After the two squads had joined him, Izuna ordered them to cover him as he seemed to examine the door. The unhealthy pool of blood forming at his feet from the arm wasn't lost on them. "Sir, maybe you should get your arm looked at." Cat said.

His eyes glanced in her direction before looking down at the arm. "We don' have time. We need to get into the warden's office and activate the failsafe suppression seal, before we kill every last prisoner here."

"You're already dead on your feet. If you pass out in the middle of battle while in those corridors, you know as well as I do making it to the office is going to be a big enough pain." Cat continued.

The Commander, ignoring her, stomped on the ground, dropped into a solid stance, and then nailed the door with his good arm. The door resonated with the strike, before going silent.

The man glanced over at Cat, sighing. "Put a tourniquet on it to slow the blood flow. I'll get you through the doors, but I'll leave the fighting to your squad."

Cat nodded, quickly producing some bandages and wrapping the arm along with a tourniquet. Once that was done she was back to issuing orders. "Fox, your clones have point. Sparrow, you're to go with him and coordinate his clones. Owl, you're staying here to watch over the Commander."

Izuna looked back at Tenzo. "Bear, your squad is to keep this door open, just in case we bite off more than we can chew on our way up to the office."

"Yes sir!" Tenzo saluted before issuing orders to his trainees to switch out with providing cover for Cat's squad.

Once this was done, the Commander nodded to Cat, letting her know he was about to open the way.

He dropped into the same solid stance as before, cocked his leg back, and slammed it into the door way causing the same resonating sound to occur. As he dropped the leg down, Izuna slammed the door with a punch. It wasn't quite as effective as the punches Tsunade threw, but it was enough, because they began to see layered cracks where the hinges were bolted into the stone walls.

Dragon balled his hands to grip some invisible object, and quickly yanked the door forward. Before it could fall on top of them, the man spun on his heel, and delivered a powerful back kick to the center of the door, blasting it into the hallway. If the assorted puddles of blood, and the occasional severed limb were any clue, a welcoming party had just been crashed.

Naruto bolted forward, summoning a dozen clones with Neji right behind him.

Soon enough, Neji alerted them to a target. "There are two prisoners out in the open, preparing an ambush at the next intersection."

Naruto nodded as the sent three clones ahead of them. The prisoners were able to dispatch the three clones, but not before an explosive tag was used to seal them off from their path.

"Please, for the love all that is sane, try not blow up too many corridors. We do have to make it to the office." Neji said.

Naruto mumbled out a brief 'party pooper', before getting a small smack on the back of head from Cat. "Focus. We have a mission to accomplish."

Naruto shut up, and nodded, making another three clones to replace the ones just lost. "Is Dragon keeping up?"

"He's keeping pace just fine…" Sparrow paused for a second.

"Captain! His chakra is starting to fluctuate. I don't think he's going to be able to stay conscious much longer."

Cat didn't even glance over her shoulder. "If he goes down, Owl will take care of it."

Sparrow didn't say anything, but Naruto did. "What if a couple prisoners find them before we get the seal activated?"

Cat shrugged, not really caring that Naruto wasn't looking at her. "Owl can handle it just fine. You would have seen that if you weren't ogling the commander after seeing him fight."

Naruto's head snapped around so quickly, Yugao thought he might have snapped his neck. "I'm not gay! I wasn't ogling him! I was just shocked that another Uchiha is alive, since Sasuke has been alone since his family was murdered."

Yugao quickly slapped a hand over his mouth while looking around. "Don't let Dragon hear you call him an Uchiha. It may be the last thing you get to say. The man belongs to no clan."

"Excommunicated?" Neji asked.

Yugao shrugged. "No one really knows anymore. Tsunade and him seem to have a history, though."

"There are three more inmates guarding the warden's office, and two more inside." Neji commented as they surprisingly met little resistance. "Most inmates must be in the courtyards, fighting to escape."

Naruto nodded, his clones rushing forward only to find the corridor full of traps. As the clones cleared the way Dragon and Owl were able to catch up from the slow progress. The commander moved from being helped by Owl to leaning and quickly being caught up on the situation by talking to Cat. He gave a brief nod before he looked over at the three trainees that had so far preformed well beyond any expectations of them for this situation.

"Fox, you will make another dozen clones and support Owl and Sparrow in making a choke point in this corridor.

Naruto glanced at the other two there. "Dragon, you can barely stand up in your condition…" Dragon stood up and straightened and cut Naruto off before he could voice what everyone was thinking.

"I didn't ask your opinion on the matter, Fox. You will follow my orders." Izuna's harsh tone left little room for argument.

Fox didn't seem to want to back down, but reluctantly nodded.

Everything was quickly set up, and the breach was made with Izuna on point. His Sharingan flared to life, forcefully shoving the three guards into a genjutsu induced slumber.

What the two found was not exactly what they had expected. The two remaining inmates were studying the seal that activated the failsafe; one looking more like a religious leader than a prisoner of the facility and the other had an intelligence hidden behind dark eyes. From what Yugao could see, they were modifying the seal. She chanced a glance at the Commander, and idly noted that his Sharingan was no longer active. His stance shifted to a relaxed position, but she could tell he was ready to act in the blink of an eye.

"Well, if it isn't my old friend, Izuna!" The religious looking inmate exclaimed as he got up. He lifted a piece of jewelry from his neck that had an emblem of the Kyubi from its position around his neck.

"I have spread the words of wisdom you spoke to me about the Kyubi." He lifted a shabby looking journal up for him to see. "Be blessed are those that can burn away the very being of damnation and hate on this earth, for from those ashes will come forth a peace that will only be fulfilled by everlasting life!"

"Sir, what's he talking about?" Yugao whispered as she saw Izuna slap his palm to his face.

"You could say I had an extended stay here, until the warden found out I indulged in inspiring this idiot's delusions and fantasies of being a prophet for the 'damned souls' of the prisoners here." Izuna grumbled out from behind his hand.

"Look, we are just about ready to send our brothers to their salvation!" The man pointed towards the seal where the other inmate looked like he was finishing up the modifications to the seal.

Yugao started to slowly walk to flank the two. Izuna took the invitation to get a closer proximity to the two in order to see what the aim of their rebellion was. His eyes widened a fraction as realization hit him. Yugao watched as he searched for an answer both around the room before his eyes landed on the small journal and then he looked back at the man who was a religious leader.

"I see, but I don't think having them commit mass suicide will bring their souls salvation. More like snuff it out, like a breeze does to a freshly lit fire." Izuna commented.

The leader seemed to ponder his words. "But by using the burning hatred of their society upon their souls, it will allow those flames to consume their sins, thus leading them to a higher level of existence!"

Izuna's right eyebrow twitched as he swayed slightly on his feet. The blood loss was clearly starting to affect him some. "What hatred would that be, when… all that…" Izuna swayed more heavily this time. Yugao cursed. He was going to lose consciousness at a time when he could negotiate.

Izuna grabbed his head with his left hand willing the world to stop spinning. This religious debate with the nut job was getting annoying. Screw humoring this suicidal fuck. "Damn it, Inabi! Your tinkering is going to do nothing more than use the suppression system to kill a bunch of people. What salvation is there if it's not done by Kyubi himself? I told you that the beast has so much hatred flowing through his chakra that it would consume the very sins of your soul as you slip into the afterlife. If you want salvation, go find Kyubi, and have it kill you!" Izuna finally shouted.

Yugao stood still, damn near speechless at the debate. She never wanted to remember the malice that she felt as a little girl when the Kyubi had come within a couple miles of Konoha.

Inabi seemed to blink a few times at what had been said, before his head dropped. "Heh. I seemed to have forgotten that tidbit. Shintsu, let's give them back their prison and continue to spread the message of our salvation."

The little man sitting behind the seal didn't seem to hear the man, as he hadn't stopped his modifications to the seal. When Shintsu didn't stop, Inabi grabbed one of his arms. "Shintsu I said stop."

Shintsu ripped his arm from the leader before hitting the man who dared stop his masterpiece of work. "Like hell I'm going back to being a prisoner! I'll crush those fuckers to death, and burn them!"

He had just about started to write the modification that would burn them up, when Yugao rushed the man.

She wasn't quite fast enough as he activated the seal with a burst of chakra as she tackled him to the floor. She slammed his left arm down with a kunai buried to the hilt, but found his body went ridged as the suppression seal activated. He was not going to be getting up any time soon and as he started to laugh she knew something had to be wrong. She glanced over at her commander to find him on the floor as well. "Shit!"

She quickly went over to his side to find him still conscious, but being affected by the seal. "Stop the feedback loop that's amplifying the gravity." Izuna grunted out as the gravity acting on his body started to make it hard to breathe.

Yugao glanced at the seal. "I don't know how. I'm not a seal expert, and don't know what he did to it."

Izuna lifted his head just enough to see the seal and activated his eyes. "Swipe a smear of the warden's blood across the column in the upper left side of the triangle that is laid within the circle. Then you need to rewrite a modified outlet to store the chakra that is creating the feedback. Hopefully, that will release the gravity."

Yugao nodded, springing into action. Slowly, but surely, the chakra within the seal bled off to her modified storage seal. However, it wasn't sticking. "It's not staying within the storage steal! What do I do?"

Izuna barely lifted his head to see what was going on. He squinted, and then shouted. "Use your sword as a median, moron! Any chakra conducting material will work!"

Yugao grumbled something about elitist sealers, before flipping her ninjato down and through the center of the seal.

She watched as the portion of her storage steal climbed up the sword, and embedded itself into the weapon. The surplus chakra caused by the feedback loop was quickly diverted, and slowly, the seal deactivated.

Yugao walked over next to Izuna while she radioed for medical assistance.

Izuna was sitting there, breathing heavily. "Good...work…you're… not… a… complete… idiot."

Yugao grunted as she took a seat next to him. She glanced over at the injured inmate as he groaned, not quite killed by his own insanity. As he realized that he wasn't quite dead, he started to shout obscenities towards the two ANBU.

For a brief instant, Izuna and Yugao exchanged a look, and a moment of understanding passed between them. Yugao grumbled at her commander. "If you weren't bleeding out, I'd make you do it yourself."

Slowly, she crossed the room towards the inmate, and delivered a swift kick to the side of his head, silencing the bastard. She checked on the unconscious religious leader, who had passed out from the strain caused by the suppression seal. He was fine.

Once Yugao returned to her Commander, she noticed he was starting to breathe considerably shallower than he should. "Broken ribs?" she asked.

The glare she received could've made Orchimaru piss in fear, and was all she needed to know it was a stupid question in his opinion.

She leaned over him, and slung him over her shoulders, reminiscent of a sack of potatoes. She probably handled him a little harder than intended, but she thought the asshole could use the pain to keep him awake.

He grunted in agony when he settled, and his eyes started to droop. He was fighting a losing battle, as his eye lids kept closing, each time taking longer to open.

"Thanks, Yugao." His soft whisper was almost missed, but she heard it as he slipped into darkness.

Quickly checking to make sure the bastard was still alive, she sighed in relief when a pulse was felt.

She brought her hand to the short wave radio transmitter, and spoke once more. "Owl, Sparrow, Fox, get to the warden's room and secure the prisoners."

Within three seconds, the three ANBU were in the room, securing the prisoners. "Fox, use your clones to make sure the inmates make it back to their cells. Sparrow, keep watch until the medical team arrives."

Owl looked around. "What about me, ma'am?"

She pointed towards Shintsu. "Make sure that little shit doesn't talk anymore."

Owl nodded, and produced a roll of medical tape, which she used liberally in making sure the man could not voice his opinions upon waking up. She received a nod from Cat, who was monitoring their commander closely.

* * *

Conversations in the mess hall that night were about the recent prisoner riot.

"Dude, I'm telling you, that he's supposed to be some mass murder. I mean, did you not see how he completely blew those guys away without a second thought?! Not to mention that we're just trainees, and we were used as a primary force to subdue a prison riot!" Kiba exclaimed, shoveling food into his mouth, before chewing.

Shikamaru, who had been trying to nap, decided to put his two ryo in. "You're conclusion is based around one incident in which he was trying to reestablish order. Killing a few here and there pretty much happened everywhere in the courtyard."

"I concur. He took the most logical course of action. These were desperate prisoners with little to lose. They would have killed to get out. He took the actions needed to save the life of the guards that lived through the initial riot, while seeking the path with the least loss of life for the prisoners. Also, the facility houses far more inmates than guards." commented Shino.

Kiba stared at Shino. "Dude, that is, by far, the longest I have ever heard you speak about anything!"

Shino gave no visible response, other than to adjust his glasses.

"He's not cold-hearted. At least, not completely. If anything, he's over protective." Naruto had been surprisingly quiet through the conversation until now.

Every head at the table turned to him. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?! He didn't hesitate to blow the unsuspecting prisoners away! They didn't even get a chance to see it coming!" Kiba argued.

Sasuke seemed to answer for his friend. "The dope means we are ANBU now. Hesitation means death."

Naruto nodded to show he agreed with Sasuke. That's one thing the instructors had drilled into them: never hesitate. "That's part of it, but I do think he looks kind of peaceful when unconscious. In a none gay sort of way."

"What did a blind shinobi like yourself think you saw?" Came a voice from behind the blond. He looked up to see a masked Rat standing over him.

"Uh, well, I thought the commander looked kind of detached, as if he didn't want to feel remorse after he killed those prisoners." Naruto said.

There was silence between the group and Rat, before she burst out into laughter. She had to set her tray down on a nearby open spot in a table before she dropped it as she held her sides.

"Really?" She kept laughing. "That man?" She continued to guffaw in hysterics as she tried to speak. "Show remorse?"

Slowly, she was able to get her laughter under control. She ruffled the blonde's hair. "Thanks for that laugh kid. I really needed it."

Naruto folded his arms over his chest, muttering. "I was being serious."

No sooner were the words out of his mouth when Rat knock him upside the head. "Let me help you little shit stains get one thing straight: Our commander is someone who has seen so much death that snuffing out a few insignificant prisoners' lives won't faze him. That man is barely capable of mercy, let alone remorse, when dealing with someone who is an enemy or criminal. Just pray you never find yourself fighting against the Commander, or you might find your lives unduly shortened."

"Rat, you make it sound like he's not even human." Sakura piped up.

Rat chuckled. "I'll let you decide that when you get to spend a little more time with him."

Sakura seemed to gain a little more confidence. "I have spent some time with him with Ino. He does have an intimidating presence, and he is strict, but he seemed like a good man. What he did…"

Rat interrupted. "Is what a man would do to accomplish the mission: kill all feelings. Someone who does that will do what it takes to accomplish the mission because the end justifies the means." The others didn't have much to say to that. He did seem like the kind of man that would do just that.

* * *

Izuna made his way down a corridor towards one of the indoor training facilities.

During his research on the curse seal, and performing some experiments for Tsunade in helping her develop an interesting theory on muscle regeneration, he had been neglecting the fundamentals of his training. Twenty years in prison had limited his abilities to train; shaking the rust off his skills was only just beginning. He had been able to recover some semblance of consistent elemental manipulation with his forms, and with luck, he had been able to retain the instinctual transition from one form to another without interrupting the manipulation.

The recount of his training was cut off as he arrived at his destination. He was standing at the entrance to one of the more remote training facilities within the building, and, by his luck, it was being used by Yugao. At least there weren't any students about.

He supposed he could share if she was willing. The thought hit him that she might not welcome his presence, considering at their first meeting, he nearly killed her. Their second time wasn't much better, as he insulted her intelligence.

His momentary pause in the doorway was barely noticeable as he brushed the thoughts aside. Walking into the room, he noticed she had taken to the sparring mat. The area was a nice ten by ten foot area with some minor matting to provide protection in light to heavy sparring. It was situated along the back of the left wall. Along the right wall, there was a line of posts and target dummies built for shinobi to warm up and hone their skills. They were made of a hardwood that, while durable, was less costly than alternatives in the long run. The room itself was a twenty by fifteen foot square to allow for everyone to be comfortably spaced. The top of the ceiling was about sixteen feet above the ground, allowing for aerial attacks.

Izuna could sense Yugao's discomfort in having to share the training room with him, but she remained quiet about his presence, even as she turned to wail on a training dummy with her sword.

Izuna's amusement was only increased as he noticed the tension subtly began to alter the flow of Yugao's movements. Finally, he decided to see how she responded to a more interactive atmosphere.

"How are the recruits coming with their weapons training?" Izuna casually asked, walking over to the wall with more dummies.

"They are coming along nicely. At their pace, kunai and shurikan skills will reach your standards in about a week. Basic ninjato training has been going smoothly, and since Owl has returned to the unit from her brief break, she has been gaining ground daily. Fox had an interesting request, however.

Izuna's interest was piqued, since Fox's randomness always allowed for a broad assortment of possibilities. He faced the woman showing that she had his full attention. "And the request was for...?"

"To be taught how to yield a spear or naginata. I found it odd, considering he has had no history with specialized weaponry. He admitted that during a conversation with Panda, she had mentioned that his style suited a spear or naginata." Yugao explained. "I, unfortunately, do not have experience with those weapons, so I declined the request, and suggested he talk with Panda about it."

Izuna nodded thoughtfully. He supposed Yugao handled the situation properly, considering her lack of knowledge in that area.

He watched as Yugao went back to running through her forms. He was thinking more about when would be a more appropriate time to see to it that Naruto received the proper training, when he noticed something in Yugao's form as she used the momentum of a horizontal strike to spin on her forward leg to bring her back heel to head height. "You're leaving yourself open when you execute your transition."

Yugao promptly stopped the spin she had just finished in a guarded position. "You're seeing things."

"You're leaving an opening for your opponent." Izuna said firmly. "Run through it again, and I'll show you."

Izuna positioned himself to be her opponent and acted as any normal one would and bent back out of range of the initial slash of her sword. When she followed through, and began to transition to bring her back heel up, he positioned his knee so it was behind her forward leg near the kneecap. He grabbed a hold of her leading shoulder and reversed her movement, causing her to fall completely off balance. He followed through, and pinned her as she hit the ground.

Yugao's eyes had widened briefly in surprise, before she acted. With the flick of her wrist on the way down, she brought the edge of her sword against the man's neck.

Yugao landed with a satisfied smirk, since she had the advantage. She was pinned, but her sword was firmly against the man's neck. "I told you I wasn't that open." Yugao said, grinning.

"Not a bad improvisation for being put in a tight situation." Izuna said, quite amused that despite being taking off guard, her quick thinking did give her some leverage. It was quick thinking that kept an ANBU alive, and probably why this woman had lived long enough to achieve the rank of Captain.

* * *

Izuna nearly let out a frustrated sigh when he saw Shizune waiting patiently outside his office. He opened the door and ushered her in with his slowly healing arm.

He had to give the medic credit. Not only had she brought him back from the brink of death, but also gave him a fully functional arm after his brush with Konoha's former master of the Iron Shield style. He hadn't exactly expected the man's body to not only redirect, but amplify his own attack.

"Let me guess. Tsunade is getting antsy, and wants us back within the month." Izuna said as he walked around his desk.

"Actually, within the next two weeks. We've had nearly two and a half months, and she can't keep the council and their former instructors at bay any longer. Considering you have a majority of clan heirs, a sizable portion of the council wants to meet with you. Otherwise, she risks losing support in an already weakened government. As you can guess, public view of our ninja is not all that great, seeing that we seem to be breeding more problems than producing solutions."

Izuna nodded his agreement at the assessment. "Still, I wonder if they'll be ready. Sure they look and act like ANBU should, but they're not advanced enough in their skills to go into live exercises. Perhaps once we're back, it'll be time to start them on their real training. I must say, I'm surprised that Owl and Salamander have come as far as they have after our little chat. Those two can at least complete the route and exercises. I am satisfied with the improved times of the other members."

"Honestly, after their performance in bringing that prison riot under control, I would have thought that would show signs that they have grown more than you think." Shizune said with a smile.

"Oh yes. One more thing I was asked to mention. Your overgrown lizard has apparently been quite persistent and annoying. Tsunade asks that you please deal with the situation." Shizune said and if Izuna wasn't mistake a glint of mischief in her eye.

Izuna groaned as it hit him what lizard Tsunade was referring to.

"Very well. I'll have us depart in one week for Konoha." Izuna said, hoping that the response would pacify Tsunade.

"Good. Otherwise, she said she'd send a small army if you delay."

The annoyed twitch of Izuna's eyebrow was the only response Shizune got before she shut the door.

* * *

AN: It took a bit longer to get this out mainly because I just kept adding more and more to this chapter before finally I just threw my arms up and sent it to ShadowFaux to get beta'd. Hopefully this chapter gave you some insight and a peak at how Hinata did not develop with the rookie group. If you read TCS I'm taking that concept and molding it to this story since I thought it was a nice concept. I may continue that story, but right now I find myself at a loss for that story. Writer's block sometimes can be a real bitch.


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